Facing Your Inner Demons
by DayDreamer03
Summary: When a human girl is kidnapped and brought to Demon World to be experimented on by a demon scientist, the Spirit Detectives are reinstated to rescue her. But what they get is more than they bargained for especially for one demon in particular HieiOC
1. Short Reunion

hey there! this is my first fanfic so i hope you all like it! first chapter's kinda short... its more like a teaser sorry...

anyway please R&R i can use all the feedback that i can get and ill even accept flames... they dont really bother me as long as you can tell me why you dont like it or whatever

**disclaimer: **yeah... i don't own Yu Yu Hakusho or any of its characters or even its freakin' amazing plot and whatnot i only own my OC and my plotline (its up to you to decide if its amazing)

Facing Your Inner Demons

Ch 1: Short Reunion

Yusuke and Keiko walked down the street hand in hand talking quietly. Anyone could tell they were happy; it was in their expressions, their gestures, their walk, everything.

It had been a year since Yusuke had returned from the Makai. He and Keiko had spent almost everyday together, trying to make up for lost time. Everyday it was just the two of them together, or maybe Kuwabara, Yukina, or Kurama would tag along. Besides those three and Genkai, there was almost no evidence that Yusuke had lived a once very dangerous life and had, at one time, been a King.

But of course, a peaceful life for the ex-Spirit Detective was non-existent.

The couple had strolled lazily into the park in the center of the city and decided to sit down on a bench on the far side of the park. Yusuke looked around, still holding Keiko's hand, when suddenly he heard his name being called.

"Yusuke!" called a voice from above. Wait… above?

Both Yusuke and Keiko looked up and jumped from the bench. Coming at them at an alarmingly high speed was Botan on her oar. Her blue hair flew out behind her and her pink cotton candy eyes shone with excitement.

"Oh, Kami. It's Botan!" Yusuke shouted. He pulled Keiko and ran a few feet away. No less than two seconds later, Botan crashed landed on the bench.

"Oowww," Botan whimpered, rubbing her head. She slowly got up, wiped off her pink kimono of all the dirt it had accumulated from her crash and looked over at the pair who were still standing a few feet away. "You know, you could have helped me up," she whined to them.

Keiko recovered from the shock first. "Oh, Botan! I'm sorry! Are you okay?" Keiko asked, running over to Botan."

Botan giggled and nodded her head. She suddenly burst into tears, crushed Keiko into a big hug and cried, "Oh Keiko, I've missed you so much! A year is much too long! How are you? You look wonderful! Oh, this is so great!"

Yusuke laughed at Keiko's frazzled look and walked over to greet his old friend. "Botan, you'll talk Keiko's ear off if you continue to ask questions. Why don't you let her answer at least one of them, huh?"

"Right, sorry!" Botan said with a sheepish grin on her face. "It's just, I've missed you all so much." Her eyes teared up and she hugged Yusuke lightly.

Yusuke stiffened at first, but he couldn't deny that he had missed the ferry girl as well. He loosened up and hugged her back. "Yeah, I know. I've missed you too," he told her. He let go of her and looked her in the eyes and said, "But I know that you're here for a reason, Botan. Koenma wouldn't just let you come see us for a reunion."

Botan's eyes saddened and she nodded. She suddenly became very interested in the ground where she kicked at the grass with her feet. "You always were one who liked to get straight to the point," she said with a sad smile. "So much for my happy reunion." She paused and finally looked up at Yusuke. "You have one last mission as Spirit Detective. I'm sorry Yusuke, but we need your power and we need it now."


	2. Another Reunion

Facing Your Inner Demons

Ch 2: Another Reunion

"Wow, it's been _really _long time since I've been here," Yusuke said, looking around. "Spirit World really hasn't changed much, has it?"

Botan laughed. "Not in the past thousand years, no," she told Yusuke. She, Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Kurama had all met up at Yusuke's apartment after he had called them and a portal had appeared that transported them just outside of King Enma's palace. They now walked through a huge room with hundreds of ogres running around yelling what sounded like nonsense to the outsider's ears.

Botan stopped at a huge set of brass double doors and shouted, "Koenma! It's Botan! I've brought them!"

The door slowly opened about two feet. Botan briskly walked in, motioning the other three to follow. As soon as they were inside the high ceilinged office, the dorr slammed shut with a loud bang causing Kuwabara and Yusuke to jump, with a small cry coming from Kuwabara.

A small chuckle sounded from the far left corner of the room, behind the three young men. "Baka ningen," the voice said.

"Hey! Nobody calls me…" Kuwabara started to threaten while whirling around to face whoever had insulted him. He instantly stopped when he saw that the insulter was none other than Hiei, who stepped out of the darkness that was provided by the corner he has stood in.

"It's about time," he said gazing over to the three others. "I was about to send out a search party. Ningen are so slow."

"Why you little shrimp!" Kuwabara spluttered. He was just about to go over there and give Hiei a piece of his mind when Yusuke grabbed his shirt.

"Well, it's _so _nice to see you too, Hiei," Yusuke said in a sarcastic tone.

Kurama smirked and said, "Same old Hiei. Good to see you haven't changed much over the year you've been working in the Makai."

"Hn. And I see that you too have not changed. You're still hanging around in the Ningenkai," Hiei retorted.

"Now, now boys. Play nice," Botan reprimanded.

Kuwabara finally stopped struggling against Yusuke's impenetrable grasp and gave a sigh. He then perked up and asked Botan, "Hey, why's the shrimp here anyway? It's not like he'd willingly help out on a mission of ours."

"Well the baka's gotten smarter, now hasn't he?" Hiei sneered. Kuwabara once again made towards Hiei and was once again stopped by Yusuke. Hiei ignored him and continued, "Not that it's any of your business, Kuwa_baka_, but I was sent here by Mukuro. She wanted one of her strongest demons on the border patrol to handle this mission. With Koenma's team; which just happens to be you."

"Why does Koenma have to be involved at all?" Kurama questioned. "If Mukuro is involved then it means that a demon has either come to the Ningenkai or a human has accidentally ended up in the Makai."

"Hn. Normally that would be correct, but in this case a ningen was _brought_ to the Makai," Hiei answered.

"What do you mean _brought_?" Yusuke asked, picking up on the key word.

"It means that a demon has kidnapped a human and brought said human to the Makai," answered Koenma (in toddler form) who now stood at an opened door across the room. He moved over to his desk and sat down in his large, red chair. He looked over at the four ex-Spirit Detectives and said, "I'm sorry that I cannot be happy to see you right now. What has happened is unfortunate and must be fixed."

The four knew a challenge when they heard one. They hadn't been on a mission in many years but they were ready. They nodded which Koenma took as a go ahead to explain their mission. "Good," he said turning his chair around and pressing a button.

A huge screen came down and Koenma spoke to the four again, "If you will give your attention to the screen, I will begin with your briefing."


	3. The Mission

**disclaimer:** i dont own Yu Yu Hakusho only own my OC

Facing Your Inner Demons

Ch 3: The Mission

Koenma picked up a remote, pointed it at the screen and clicked a button on it causing a photo of a teenage girl and her bio to appear on the screen.

"This is Kelly," Koenma began. "She's seventeen, dirty blonde usually straight hair that reaches midway down her back, hazel green eyes, around 5'4" and 140 lbs. Memorize her face and her appearance."

"So this is the girl we're looking for?" Yusuke asked. When Koenma nodded his head Yusuke asked, "But she's no Asian. Where's she from?"

Koenma held up the remote again and the picture was replaced by another. The girl, Kelly, stood outside of a small brick red house with five other people.

Koenma pointed at the people. "Her family," he stated. "She's the oldest of four children. They live in a suburb about five minutes away from the city of Philadelphia which is in America. In other words, not only will she speak English, but she will also have an accent."

"Koenma, is it really necessary to know about her family and the way she speaks?" Yusuke asked.

Kurama answered instead. "We have to know as much about her as possible so that we can question her to make sure it is in fact her should we be suspicious. That and we will want to make sure that she is in the right state of mind."

"Okay, but what about talking to her, huh?" Kuwabara asked. "I've been getting better at English through school, but I'm nowhere close. And I doubt that Urameshi and Hiei here know how to speak English."

"Hn. Baka ningen. How do you think I can understand Japanese? Demons have most languages programmed into their brains at birth. English is actually a very common language and is used often throughout the Makai," Hiei answered.

Yusuke nodded. "Yeah, that's true. My demon half enables me to access a couple of languages. English being the easiest to speak."

"Well now that that's settled…" Koenma said before any more questions could be asked. He once again picked up his remote and pressed a button. This time, a demon showed up. He looked much like a human did, but his hair was a bright yellow, not blonde. He had long clawed hands that were attached top muscular arms. All of him was muscular, but it didn't look good. It made him look big and bulky. He was sneering, his yellow eyes only slits on his face.

"This is Inoji, the demon who kidnapped Kelly. He is the equivalent of a human scientist. Back before the barrier was put in place, he used to frequently kidnap humans with high spirit energy and do horrid experiments on them. I fear the worst for this girl," Koenma explained to them all.

"So if he's a scientist than he's probably really weak, right?" Yusuke asked.

"Hn. You and your ningen stereotyping," Hiei said. "Inoji is an S-class demon. He was able to get through the barrier when it was up by using a machine that lowered his energy. It enabled him to keep his presence unknown to the border patrol. That bastard has gotten past me twice. I won't let it happen a third time." Hiei growled at this last comment.

"Wait, he's an S-class demon? Then what am I doing here?" Kuwabara asked. I hate to admit it but I won't do much good. I haven't been in a serious fight since Sensui."

"Your skills are necessary for this mission," Koenma informed him. "Hiei and his team found Inoji's palace in the Makai, but there is a powerful barrier preventing entry. We need you to go and cut an opening in it."

Kuwabara sighed but nodded his head.

"Alright, now you're mission is obviously to retrieve the girl, but I also want you to try to either capture or kill Inoji. We don't want this happening to anyone ever again," Koenma told them.

Botan turned to them and held out a compact communicator; just like the one she had all those years ago. "Here, take this and when you fid the girl and can safely bring her back, use it to ask for a portal. Koenma will send one at your location," she said, handing the communicator to Yusuke. She looked him in the eyes and said, "Please bring that poor girl home safely."

Yusuke took the communicator, put it in his jacket pocket, and said, "Of course we will Botan. Who do you think you're talking to?"

Botan smiled while the four grinned or smirked and then suddenly they were gone; dropped through the portal Koenma had opened below them.

a/n: alright so i had a very hard time naming my character. it had to be american and i hadn't seen many stories with the name Kelly in it so that became my oc's name. as for the accent well it was the accent i knew best i have relatives from philly nd ive been there a few times myself and i just loved it there so a philadelphian accent is what i gave my character hope i dont get flames from any true philadelphians out there please forgive me!

please R&R and i will love u for life!


	4. The Barrier

thank you to the two people who reviewed i greatly appreciate it as long as i know people are interested i will continue to update so reviews are always welcomed and appreciated

Facing Your Inner Demons

Ch 4: The Barrier

Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama, and Hiei landed just on the outskirts of a thick forest. In the distance the four could see a huge stone palace. There were two towers, one on each side of the palace. Huge gold doors marked the entrance, and two stained glass windows were on either side of the doors. Windows seemed to littler the rest of the palace walls, though they did not stand out as much as the stained glass ones.

"Be on the lookout for guards," Kurama warned.

"No need to," Hiei interjected. "Inoji is cocky. I've scouted this area a dozen times. There are never guards nor does it seem that any other demons besides Inoji live there, though this cannot be confirmed."

The others nodded and proceeded forward. They walked quickly for a few minutes but came to an abrupt halt in front of the barrier Koenma had mentioned earlier. It shone a light silver color and cackled with energy. Kurama held his hand to it but immediately withdrew it when the barrier zapped him with energy.

"Hmm… this barrier is… flawless," Kurama said, clearly stunned. "I've never seen anything like this."

Hiei nodded his head. "Yes," he said. "Which is why I requested the baka here." He jerked his thumb at Kuwabara.

Kuwabara scowled at Hiei but did not say anything else. He was preoccupied with the barrier in front of him.

"This Inoji is definitely a full blooded demon, right? Not a half-demon like Urameshi here?" Kuwabara asked.

Kurama shook his head. "No. Koenma told us he was a full demon. Why do you ask?"

"Because, the energy coming from this thing… it's just like Yusuke's energy. The energy of a hanyou," he replied.

Yusuke's brow furrowed in thought as he came closer to the barrier. After a short moment, he widened his eyes in surprise. "You're right," he said, still looking at the barrier.

"That is interesting, but we do still have a mission to complete," Kurama told them.

Kuwabara nodded his head and summoned his spirit sword (the dimension splitting one) into his right hand. "Whew, it's been a while since I've had to use this."

He took his sword and swung it down, causing a gash to appear in the barrier.

"Hn. Seems like you actually were useful. I have to admit, I had my doubts," Hiei said as he walked ahead through the new opening in the barrier.

Kuwabara ran forward, ready to strangle Hiei, but he was again stopped by Yusuke grabbing his shirt.

"Calm down, Kuwabara. Remember why we're here," Yusuke told him, suddenly letting go so that Kuwabara fell flat on his face.

"Hey!" Kuwabara shouted after he had gotten up. He looked around, but Yusuke, Kurama, and Hiei were already on the other side of the barrier, walking toward the palace. Kuwabara huffed angrily and ran after them.

They approached the doors and stopped, not knowing how to go about entering the palace.

"So, do we just knock and say 'Hello! We're here to save the girl and kick your ass!'?" Yusuke asked sarcastically.

Hiei smirked and merely pushed the door to the palace open and just walked right in saying, "Like I said, Inoji is cocky. He doesn't believe that anyone would be able to get through the barrier."

"Wow. He's not very bright, huh?" Yusuke asked with a laugh.

Kurama chuckled and said, "Do not fret over your enemies' mistakes."

They walked to the center of the huge entrance hall. Across the room from them were another set of double doors and above those, a balcony that contained three more doors along the wide walkway. Two staircases on either side of the room led to the balcony above. The floor was a dark blue that glistened in the light pooling from the ceiling where another stained glass window could be seen, this time acting as a skylight.

"So… where do we start?" Yusuke asked.

As if to answer his question, a loud scream came from farther in the palace. The Spirit Detectives immediately ran after it, knowing that the scream came from their charge.

alright! the mission's finally starting! i know the chapters are short and im sorry about that but that's just the way they came out as i wrote the story...


	5. Saving Kelly

Time on my hands: I thought about that and you're totally right, but what i figured was that it was Kning Enma and not Koenma who had done all that stuff to Yusuke and it is Koenma now who is asking for the mission, not Enma. I understand if you disagree with me, that is kinda stretching it- later chapters i bring up the fact that Enma's a bad guy and Koenma is a good guy (layman's terms, couldn't think of better words)

okay so i had a very hard time writing a particular part of this chapter, you'll see when you get there... there's an author's note at the bottom about it

Facing Your Inner Demons

Ch 5: Saving Kelly

Up one of the staircases, through the middle door, down a long hallway, and through one last door, and the Spirit Detectives (or more, the temporary Spirit Detectives) found themselves inside what appeared to be a bedroom. Across the room, at the side of a large bed, stood Inoji. He was leaning over a crumpled form on the floor which, if one listened close enough, could be heard whimpering and drawing deep ragged breaths.

Inoji noticed them and surprise quickly flitted across his face. The emotion was gone in an instant and was replaced with a sneer. He looked down at the form on the floor and growled, "So, you were telling the truth, huh? That rip in the barrier really wasn't caused by you. These four must've done it. Ha!" He kicked at the form and earned himself a low moan of pain and then the form went still, clearly unconscious.

Inoji was about to go in for another kick, but Hiei suddenly appeared in front of him, his sword drawn and barely an inch away from Inoji's neck. Inoji immediately stopped and a low growl came from his throat. Hiei nodded towards Kurama who in turn walked over to the crumpled form on the ground and rolled it over.

The figure was a girl, eyes closed; old tears still stained her dirty face. Her expression was pained and Kurama saw that an electric collar was wrapped around her neck. She had bruises covering her face and what was exposed of her arms and stomach. She had deep purple shadows underneath her eyes showing that she had not slept in a while.

It was Kelly, but she looked different. She was thinner than she had been in her picture. Kurama also noted that her hair was shorter, choppier, and had light purple streaks going through it. Most intriguing however, were the markings that covered her bruised body.

"Yusuke, come over here," Kurama softly called across the room.

Yusuke complied and crossed the room, turning to look at Inoji as he did. Inoji looked back and scowled. The glare Yusuke gave in return was harsh, deathly, and full of hatred. Inoji got chills just looking at it.

Yusuke squatted down next to Kurama who was supporting the girl in his arms. Yusuke looked her over, noticed the markings and gasped. "The markings! They're not of the Mazuku, but… what is she?"

"A hanyou, half-demon, whatever you would like to call it. She is not of the Mazuku so naturally she would not have their markings. They are instead a combination of many types of demons," Inoji told him. "Beautiful, isn't she? Much more beautiful than her ugly ningen form. I created her you know. She's my ultimate success!"

He looked as if he was going to continue but stopped when Hiei's sword tip poked him in the neck. Hiei's glare was intense as he said, "I know that Koenma would prefer for us to bring you back alive for questioning, but I don't think that will be happening."

"I agree," Kurama said harshly. His eyes flashed angrily at Inoji but then he turned to Kuwabara. "Guard Kelly while we three handle the pig," he told Kuwabara.

Yusuke stepped forward cracking his knuckles as Kuwabara nodded and ran over to Kelly who was lying on the ground again. He picked her up and ran to the other side of the bed and put her down on the floor, but supported her head with his left arm and held his spirit sword out with his right hand.

Hiei saw that the girl was protected then kicked Inoji out the door and into the hallway in order to bring the fight away from her. The three Spirit Detectives ran out after him.

Inoji stood in the middle of the hallway, his hand over his chest where Hiei had kicked him. When he saw the three come into the hallway he disappeared. Kurama pointed to the door to the entrance room and ran towards it with Hiei and Yusuke in tow.

As soon as they exited the hallway, Inoji punched Kurama in the face taking the Spirit Detectives by surprise. Hiei immediately ran forward, ready to slice Inoji in two. Instead, he disappeared, only to have Yusuke come up behind him, taking Inoji off guard.

Yusuke's fist glowed blue with his spirit energy has he punched Inoji in the gut. Inoji cried out in pain as he was thrown backwards but regained his balance quickly and managed to disappear on them again. By this time, Kurama had recovered from the punch to his face and rejoined the other two. Their eyes darted around the room as they stood back to back in fighting stances. Kurama pulled out his rose whip and flicked it out to a point in front of him.

"Aagg!" Inoji cried. Kurama had hit him in the shoulder and he clenched his bleeding wound in an attempt to stop the blood.

He lunged forward, determined to get Kurama back for his blow, but Hiei stepped in instead, with Kurama and Yusuke slowly backing up, Kurama's whip and Yusuke's fists at the ready.

"You shouldn't have touched that onna," Hiei said, stepping towards Inoji. "You've made my job very difficult this past two weeks. But now, I finally get the satisfaction of killing you."

Hiei leapt forward with his sword, Kurama and Yusuke close behind. Their anger was fierce as they attacked all at once. Inoji was fast. He was an S-class demon after all. But he faced three other S-class (or close to S-class) demons. He didn't stand a chance. It was over in matter of seconds. Inoji's head fell to the floor, sliced off by Hiei. For good measure, Kurama had added a few deep gashes to Inoji's torso while Yusuke had blown a hole right through Inoji's chest.

Their mission was a success, but the girl's life still hung in the air.

* * *

a/n: yeah so the whole markings thing was really hard to do. in the anime (not the manga) they mention that the markings on Yusuke were the markings of the Mazuku, so i fugured that if my OC was to be a hanyou then she would need the markings of the demon that she was related to (or created by) if you disagree with this, please let me know but please also give me your opinion on it (meaning what you would do instead) or else i will just leave it as is. Note that she will only have these markings when she uses her demon energy, just like it is for Yusuke

know also that in a few chapters i will explain why there are so many markings and not just simple one's like Yusuke's

thanks so much and i hope i didnt confuse you, as i said it was very hard to figure out i confused myself in the beginning so i hope i made it easier to understand nd i didnt annoy you with my sensless babbling and bad spelling lol


	6. First Meeting

okay ch 6! im gonna keep the whole markings on her body thing for now until ch 9 rolls around because i explain the markings further so then based on reviews and whatnot ill decide

anyway please note that this is the first of a few chapters that features lyrics from a song... every song has a great significanve to my OC's state of mind so please keep that in mind and dont just disregard the song

**disclaimer**: i do not own Yu Yu Hakusho or any of its characters nor do i own the lyric to Come Sail Away, they belong to Dennis Deyoung... except for the fact that he's dead... i think lol

Facing Your Inner Demons

Ch 6: First Meeting

Yusuke, Hiei, and Kurama quickly ran back to the bedroom where they had first encountered Inoji. They burst into the room and saw that Kuwabara had moved Kelly onto the bed where she was still unconscious. Kuwabara stood on the side of the bed, hovering over her protectively. He nodded when the other three came in and sighed sadly.

"She still hasn't woken up. I was able to cut off the collar that was around her neck and she had a nasty gash from it. I was able to wrap it with some sheets that I cut up, but she still isn't responding," Kuwabara told them sadly.

Kurama moved over to examine her. He ran his hands slowly over her arms, legs, stomach and ribs. "She has at least three broken ribs and various cuts and bruises all over her," he told the others. "We need to get her healed but I'm hesitant to move her while she's unconscious. We might move her the wrong way and cause a rib to pierce the skin and we would never know it until the blood appeared."

Kurama looked over to Hiei who nodded and stepped forward. Hiei hopped onto the bed and knelt down at Kelly's head. He took off his headband and opened his Jagan eye while closing his other two. He put his hands lightly on Kelly's temples and his eye began to glow.

"Hey! What's shorty doing?' Kuwabara asked.

"He is trying to wake her up by communicating through her mind," Kurama answered. "Now, quiet. We do not want to interrupt with this."

* * *

Kelly sat in the middle of a field that was filled with wildflowers. She was leaning back on her hands, her legs outstretched, her neck upturned as she watched the clouds lazily roll by in the sky. She had earphones in that wound down and plugged into an iPod, her pride and joy. Her long blonde hair blew gently in the wind as she started to hum. She smiled slightly as she closed her eyes and began to sing.

"I'm sailing away, set an open course for the virgin sea…"

Hiei heard the singing from the forest that he stood in and dashed toward the sound. He came to a stop at the clearing where he saw Kelly sitting.

"I've got to be free, free to face the life that's ahead of me…" Kelly continued to sing.

Hiei paused, unsure of what to do. He would never admit it but he believed the singing to actually be… pretty. He cringed at the word. Had he really just thought the word pretty? But then again, he had never before heard a ningen sing like this one was now.

Kelly continued to sing as Hiei continued to listen.

"On board, I'm the captain, so climb aboard  
Well search for tomorrow on every shore  
And Ill try, oh lord, Ill try to carry on

I look to the sea, reflections in the waves spark my memory  
Some happy, some sad  
I think of childhood friends and the dreams we had…"

Hiei knew that he should bring her back to reality, but he couldn't. It didn't seem right to stop her. He surprised himself with this conclusion but he brushed it off as an after affect of being in the girl's head.

"We live happily forever, so the story goes  
But somehow we missed out on that pot of gold  
But well try best that we can to carry on

A gathering of angels appeared above my head  
They sang to me this song of hope, and this is what they said  
They said come sail away, come sail away  
Come sail away with me  
Come sail away, come sail away  
Come sail away with me…"

Suddenly the singing stopped, but Hiei could tell the song was not over. He waited and as he did, he began to hear a tune, coming not from Kelly's mouth, but from her body. The music seemed to radiate from her, seeping into the air. It was a mass of sounds; flutes drums, guitars and suddenly a sound that Hiei did not recognize. It was not made by any ningen instrument but it had the same musical effect.

Hiei continued to stand and listen and the strange music formed the image of a streaming comet flying through the air. If this music represented an event, surely a meteor shower, as ningen would call it, was the right image.

The music continued as Kelly began to sing again, "I thought that they were angels, but to my surprise  
They climbed aboard their starship and headed for the skies  
Singing come sail away, come sail away  
Come sail away with me  
Come sail away, come sail away  
Come sail away with me"

Her voice and the music slowly died down. She sat up straight, picked up her iPod, turned it off and sighed. She then spoke, "Are you going to just stand there and stare? It's not very polite."

Hiei was startled. Not just by the fact that she had suddenly spoken to him, but also by the fact that he finally noticed that she had changed into her demon form. She had the markings all over her body and shorter hair with purple streaks running through it. Looking closer, Hiei could see that her canines were elongated as well, much like other demons. He was also surprised from hearing her speak English. He knew that she would, but he had only ever heard Japanese from ningen so it was strange to be hearing another language.

She finally turned her head to look at him, pulling her headphones out and wrapping them around her iPod has she did so. She looked him over, noting his black cloak and white scarf, and his black gravity defying hair with the bit of white in the middle. She then studied his face, emotionless and unyielding. For some reason she felt drawn to it. She then looked into his eyes, his red eyes that seemed to be small pools of blood whose depths could not be measured by any human means.

She knew she should have been afraid as he walked towards her. She should have gotten up and tried to defend herself. He was short, an inch shorter than she was (1). Her new demon powers were great and her training had helped make it even greater. She believed she could take him. But she didn't get up, didn't feel fear, and didn't take her eyes off his.

He stood before her, looking down, his expression still emotionless as always. With his closeness to her he was finally able to get a good look at her without any bumps, bruises, or cuts. Her eyes were bright; a natural light seemed to come from the various hues of green, brown, and yellow of her irises. She had bangs that were cut above her eyebrows which helped to frame her round face. She had a natural blush high on her cheeks and through the markings, Hiei could see that freckles ran across her nose and over her cheeks. He noted that she never looked away from him and she didn't appear to be afraid at all. In fact, she seemed relaxed near him.

"Like I said, it's impolite to stare. I know I look funny, but gimme a break," she told him with a small smile forming on her lips. Her eyes held a mischievous sparkle in them as she waited for his response.

Instead of answering her he asked, "How did you know that I was there?"

"Well you _are_ in _my_ head," she replied with a roll of her eyes. "I knew you were here as soon as you dropped in. I was surprised actually. But then again, I was never very good at making barriers around my mind. Ha, but Inoji wasn't a very good teach on that subject. He'll be so disappointed in me. Bastard." Her face fell after she spoke.

"Inoji is dead," he told her.

She looked up in disbelief, but all she needed was the cocky look in his eyes to tell her that he spoke the truth and that he was most likely the one who killed Inoji.

"So then, are you here to try to take me for yourself? I won't go without a fight," she said defiantly, but her body language did not follow her words. She was unnaturally calm and she trusted the strange demon against her better judgment.

"Hn. You would never win," Hiei replied with a slight smirk.

_That_ got her. She stood up quickly, tucking her iPod into her jeans' pocket, and snarled, "Wanna bet? I'll fight you right now you stupid demon! Don't underestimate me! Inoji put me through hell and back to make sure that I could fight demons!"

"Baka onna. First, you would _not_ win. Your powers are nothing compared to mine. Second, if I fought you it would defeat the purpose of my coming here," he told her.

She blinked and slowly said, "Your… purpose for… coming here?"

"Yes. I was sent to wake you up. We cannot move your body until you are awake," he replied.

She blinked again and said, "Oh. Okay. Problem. I can't wake up. Dunno how."

Hiei let out a huff of frustration and said, "Right now you have found a haven in your mind, what you ningen would call a coma. However, _you_ are able to get out of this state easier than normal ningen because not only are you a half demon but you also have my help. Just close your eyes, will yourself to wake up, and let me do the rest."

"O-okay," Kelly stuttered.

Hiei nodded and attempted to place his fingers on her temple, as he had to her sleeping form. However, Kelly backed away.

"Don't touch me!" She yelled at him. She trusted him, but she definitely did not want another demon to touch her. Inoji had done more than just beat her and she did not want another demon's touch.

Hiei noticed the fear in her eyes despite the fact that she tried to cover it up on her face.

"You _need_ my help to wake up. I will not hurt you. I swear to you, onna," Hiei said to her. He really didn't know what to say to her otherwise, or even how to react to her fright of his touch.

She calmed down slightly and looked him in his blood red eyes. Once again, she felt that she could trust him.

"Okay. I'm sorry," she said quietly. She moved forward, closer to Hiei.

Hiei nodded and again raised his hands. He placed his fingers lightly on either side of Kelly's face and saw that she flinched slightly, but did not pull away.

"Your fingers are warm," she said. The warmth spread through her and she was suddenly no longer uncomfortable.

"I'm a fire demon. My body is much warmer than most demons and all ningen," he replied.

She nodded at his simple answer and knew it was time. She began to concentrate on waking up. She then realized that she had never learned the demon's name. She mentally shrugged, figuring that she would learn it later when she thanked him for saving her.

She closed her eyes and as soon as she did, they opened again, but this time she was really awake. The first thing she saw was Hiei's red eyes looking down at her, his hands no longer on her head.

"Hey," she managed to croak. "Long time no see."

"You shouldn't talk," he said in Japanese. Kelly wasn't surprised to find that she could understand it. Inoji had informed her that demons had the gift of tongues and he had helped her to access the gift.

Kelly closed her eyes again to show that she wouldn't talk.

"Do not fall asleep again. If you go back to into a comatose state with no doctors around, it will be much harder for me to help you," Hiei informed her.

She nodded slightly and focused on the energies that surrounded the bed where she lay. She felt a human at the foot of the bed. He was the weakest of the four, but he had a strange aura emitting from him that she had never felt on any humans before. To her left was another human but he also had a demon power within him. He was not a half demon; it was more like the demon energy resided deep within him. Kelly was confused but she couldn't concentrate long. The other energy to her right emitted energy just like her own. She realized, with great surprise, that he too was a half demon.

Hiei hopped down off the bed, careful not to disturb Kelly. Kurama made to pick Kelly up, but Hiei shook his head and held out an arm to stop Kurama.

"Onna, we need to move you. I'm going to pick you up. I promise to not hurt you," Hiei told her.

She opened her eyes again to look at him.

"Alright, but tell me your name first," she whispered, unable to raise her voice any higher.

Hiei sighed, not seeing why this was necessary, but he complied with her wish. "Hiei," he told her.

She nodded as much as her tired and beaten body would allow her and then closed her eyes again. Hiei took this as a sign to pick her up. She flinched in pain and to the close contact with him, but the warmth from his chest flooded into her, making her calm.

"Call Koenma, detective," Hiei said as he tried not to move the girl in his arms.

Yusuke nodded and pulled the compact communicator out of his shirt pocket and opened it up. The screen lit up and Koenma's face appeared on the screen.

"Okay, Koenma, we're all done here. Send a portal," Yusuke told him.

Koenma didn't ask questions, he simply hit a button and once again the Spirit Detectives found themselves falling downward, only this time they had an extra person with them.

* * *

(1) yes! i made Hiei taller. in my eyes, he grew throughout the entire series and by this time, he was about 5'3", see? hes still short for a guy but not like short short get it?

also i know that in the setting of when Yu Yu Hakusho took place, iPods were not really aorund, but that is the only part of my story that really strays from Yu Yu Hakusho (beside various songs that were not written back then but w/e) so please forgive me on that respect!


	7. Bringing Her Back

**disclaimer: **i don't own Yu Yu Hakusho or it's characters and whatnot

enjoy!

Facing Your Inner Demons

Ch 7: Bringing Her Back

They landed back in Koenma's office, Hiei still holding Kelly. She flinched slightly when he touched the ground, but the pain wasn't that bad. Hiei made sure not to jostle her and to land lightly.

Botan immediately ran over when she saw the state of the girl Hiei carried.

"Oh my goodness… this is horrible…Koenma! We have to do something!" she cried.

Koenma quickly pushed a button on his desk which caused a speaker to pop up. He moved his head forward so that he could speak into it. "Send in a stretcher and doctors immediately."

About fifteen seconds later two ogres in long white coats ran into the room carrying a stretcher between them. Hiei gently put Kelly down on the stretcher, careful not to hurt her in the process.

Kelly opened her eyes again and Hiei saw fear in them.

"I don' wanna be tested on again," she said in frantic English. "I don' wanna be an experiment anymore. Don' let them, please!"

Kurama came over and knelt beside her. Kelly was able to look at him for the first time. She was surprised to see how long and how red his hair was. She was even more surprised to find that she liked it that way. It was perfect for his beautiful face and bright emerald eyes. He was unnaturally beautiful, not like any other male she had seen at home. She had thought that Hiei was good-looking, but he had more of a baby face look. Had Kelly been more focused, she would have basked in thought of being in the presence of two very good-looking guys.

"You don't need to be afraid, Kelly," Kurama told her in a gentle voice. He spoke in English in an attempt to make her feel more at ease. "These people are going to help you. They are doctors who are going to take care of you and make you better. They won't experiment on you, nor would these doctors want to. They only want to help you."

Kelly looked at him for a moment, deciding whether or not to trust him. She didn't see any lie within his eyes and so she nodded. She was still afraid, but she trusted the green-eyed man that knelt beside her.

She turned to look at Hiei who still stood close by. He looked down at her, his face still an emotionless mask. Despite his cold demeanor, he nodded at Kelly, silently approving of her decision.

Kelly faced the man kneeling down beside her and said," Can I ask your name as well?"

"Kurama," he responded.

She nodded once more and shut her eyes again. The doctors took this as a signal to take her away into a room down the hall.

"Koenma, you should know…" Yusuke began. Koenma turned his attention to the detective. "She… well to put it bluntly she ain't human anymore. That girl is a hanyou."

Koenma sighed. "Yes, I was afraid of that. My reports state that in the past Inoji had tried to create a hanyou. Before you Yusuke, there hadn't really been hanyous. If one was born, they were generally killed and so Inoji wanted to see if he could create a hanyou that would be stronger than all humans and demons. Kelly… was his first success."

"So then, we are lucky that she was even alive," Kurama stated.

Koenma nodded then turned to Botan. "Botan, I want you to go to the ER and assist in any way you can. I also have a feeling that the girl will need a friendly face. I have to keep the boys here so that I can get a full report."

"Right," Botan said. She then hurried out of the room and down the hall.

Kelly felt the ferry girl's presence next to her as she lay on a soft bed instead of the stretcher she had been transported in on. Kelly opened her eyes and took in the bubble gum eyes, blue hair, and pink kimono and she suddenly felt an urge to eat some cotton candy. Kelly couldn't help but smile at the woman next to her.

Botan was surprised by the smile but she eagerly returned it with one of her own. "My name is Botan. I'm a friend. I'm going to stay with you, okay?" Botan said to Kelly.

Kelly looked at Botan and tears appeared in her eyes. "Okay, Botan. Thank you," Kelly whispered.

Botan nodded and took Kelly's left hand in her own. A doctor came and gave a mask to Botan, whispering that it was time for Kelly to sleep. Botan nodded and put the mask over Kelly's face. She stoked Kelly's sweaty bangs away from her forehead.

"Sleep now, but stay with me. I'll stay with you in return. Please don't leave us, okay?" Botan gently whispered.

Kelly tried to respond, but she was already groggy from the gas being pumped into the mask on her face. Soon, Kelly saw nothing but the back of her eyelids as she drifted off into a deep sleep.


	8. Safe and With Music

Facing Your Inner Demons

Ch 8: Safe and With Music

Kelly found herself running down the maze of hallways that made up the basement of Inoji's palace. She had run through this maze at least a hundred times in the two weeks that she had been there and she had finally managed to memorize how to get through it from start to finish without running into various demons that were posted at the dead ends. However, it was what was at the end of the maze that frightened her most.

Kelly ran, making sharp turns here, following long corridors there. The maze had been a test of her smarts, her sense of direction, her new demon senses, and her new speed. By the end of the first week, Inoji had pronounced that she had the strength of a mid B-class demon, but she had the potential to become stronger. It was in her blood, a natural strength that would be greater with time and effort.

Eventually, Kelly made it out of the maze, but she wasn't home free yet.

She immediately braced herself, went into a fighting stance and looked around. She tried to sense Inoji's attack, but just like all the other times, she found him too late. A fist hit her in the face, causing her to see spots. She recovered quickly and blocked the second punch, returning it with a punch of her own. Her fist met his face dead on, but it didn't do much, just delayed what was to inevitably happen.

Inoji smirked and wiped away the blood that had trickled down the corner of his mouth. He disappeared and Kelly knew he wanted to finish this quickly. He reappeared behind her and she knew it was over.

Inoji's arms snaked around Kelly's waist. She fought against his grip, but knew that it was useless. His hands found the hem of her shirt and slowly went under it. They wound up her stomach, making their way to Kelly's bra. She fought with all her might, but she could not break the demon's hold on her. She heard Inoji chuckle at her vain efforts.

"NO!" Kelly screamed at the top of her lungs as she sat up in the hospital bed.

"Kelly! It was a nightmare!" a voice told her from her left.

Kelly turned, breathing hard, tears and sweat pouring down her face. Botan sat beside her, holding her hand. Kelly's chest quickly rose and fell, her lungs gasping for the breath she didn't know she had been holding. A nightmare. Right. It was a nightmare _now_, but it hadn't been _then_.

"He can't do it again, onna," Hiei said from Kelly's right.

She quickly turned her head in his direction, passing over the other people in the room without really seeing them. Hiei sat on the windowsill that was directly next to her bed, so he was actually pretty close to her. Kelly was internally surprised at his close proximity.

"Inoji is dead," Hiei repeated the words he had said to her in her mind. "He cannot do that every again."

The tears flowed faster now. Kelly couldn't decide if they were tears of joy over Hiei's statement or tears of horror over her thoughts of Inoji.

"You are safe now," Kurama said from a seat at the foot of Kelly's bed. She turned to look at him and immediately knew everything would be okay. Once again, it was his eyes that calmed her. She silently wondered what it was about his and Hiei's eyes that made her act the way she did.

"I'm… safe…" Kelly said, trying out the words as she lay back on her bed.

"That's right. We're going to take care of you now," Botan reassured her as she patted the hand of Kelly's that she still held.

"Yeah, don't worry. There's no way that bastard's comin' back. We killed him real good," said someone to the left of Kurama.

Kelly looked and saw that the voice belonged to the man who emitted the hanyou energy, just as she did. Unlike Kurama and Hiei who wore clothes that Kelly had never seen before, this man wore jeans and a t-shirt. He had slicked back hair and determined brown eyes.

Next to him stood another man around the same age with bright orange hair and beady black eyes that shone with kindness. He too wore simple jeans and a t-shirt. Kelly was happy to see some normalcy. She hadn't seen anyone dress in normal clothes in a little over two weeks.

"The name's Yusuke Urameshi," slick said to her. "This here's Kuwabara. No need to tell you his first name…" He jerked his thumb at the carrot top next to him. He waved and smiled at Kelly.

"Yusuke and Kuwabara, okay," Kelly said with a slight nod and a smile. She continued to look around the room, taking in all the bland colors one would normally find in a hospital room. She turned her head to the window, aware that everyone was watching her. Looking past Hiei and out the window, a young woman wearing a light purple kimono flew by the window on what appeared to be an oar.

Kelly jumped in surprise and earned a laugh from the others in the room. She scowled and turned to look back at everyone and said, "Just laugh at me. I don't care. It's not my fault I'm _normal_ and not used to seeing people fly by on freakin' oars!"

This earned her an even louder laugh from those in the room. Kelly scowled again and grumbled something under her breath, but the others could make out faint traces of the words "stupid" and "laughing".

"Well, it seems our new friend here has something of a temper," Kurama said with a smile.

"I'm just suffering from music withdrawal," Kelly said with a flick of her hand. The hand flick was a habit of hers that basically meant "whatever." "I need my iPod. Did anyone think to grab the bag at the end of the bed back at Inoji's place?"

"Actually, yeah," Kuwabara said. He pointed to the table next to Kelly's head and Botan's arm. There sat an orange bag with black mesh over it. It was a pull-string bag with a plastic label for a Philadelphia sports team on the bottom.

Kelly, not wanting to be rude but wanting to reach her bag as soon as possible, reached her right hand over her, not letting go of Botan's hand. She grabbed the bag and pulled it onto her stomach. She reached inside and pulled out her iPod and immediately put the earphones in her ears, which was actually challenging with the use of only one hand. She turned it on and her whole body seemed to relax. Her shoulders were no longer tense and her face was lax and her eyes drooped slightly.

Kelly sighed and then looked up at everyone who were slightly surprised by her sudden relaxation. She smiled and said, "Music is kinda like a drug for me. It relaxes me. I can't make it through a day without it. Even Inoji soon came to realize this and he eventually let me listen to it during training."

Yusuke laughed and said, "Well whatever works. I personally prefer cigarettes…"

Kelly made a face. "You smoke cancer sticks? Ugg!" she said to him, earning yet another laugh from the small crowd in the room.

"I like this girl already," Botan announced.

Kelly smiled sheepishly then her eyes lit up. "Hey," she said to Botan. "Can I get a shower in there?" She pointed at the door she had just noticed which said "Bathroom" in about five different languages.

"Oh! Yes of course! We have clothes for you too…" Botan told her. She let go of Kelly's hand and reached into the drawer of the table Kelly's bag had just been on. She pulled out a bundle of clothes.

Kelly took the clothes from Botan's outstretched hands. On top was a pair of white socks, followed by a light blue t-shirt that had a Japanese logo on it that Kelly didn't recognize. Underneath, concealed from the males' eyes were white underwear and a matching bra. Finally, there was a pair of black sweatpants. Kelly looked at the sweatpants and saw that they were bunged together at the bottom. She took her pointer finger and focused her energy into knife like point into it and cut the elastic on both legs of the sweatpants.

"There," she said as she held out the pants to admire her work. She looked up at the others and saw that the males of the room were looking at her oddly. She met their gazes one by one and finally asked, "What?"

Kurama spoke up, "You have extremely good control over your energy. We are surprised because you have only had your powers for two weeks and yet you show precise control over it.

Kelly just shrugged as she slowly lowered her legs over the edge of her bed, attempting to stand up. "Inoji was kinda surprised too. It just comes naturally, ya know? Kinda like it's part of my new blueprint. But whatever. It's no biggie." She stood up and straightened her hospital pajamas.

"No biggie?" Hiei said with disgust.

Kelly turned slowly, slightly dizzy from standing up. "Yeah," she said with a smile. "Kinda hard to translate exactly into Japanese, but it means no big deal. Sorry, I keep forgetting who I'm with."

Hiei didn't say anything directly to Kelly but she could hear him say under his breath, "Stupid ningen and their stupid speech. Especially American ningen. Bakas, all of them."

Kelly giggled slightly at this then picked up her clothes and iPod off the bed she had just vacated. She tucked them under her left arm and attempted to walk into the bathroom. She was about halfway there when her head began to spin and she lost her balance. "Whoa!" she cried as the floor rushed up to meet her.

Kelly suddenly felt a strong pair of arms encircle her waist and stop her from falling. She held tightly to her clothes as her iPod clattered noisily to the floor a few feet away. As she tried to straighten herself up she heard the others running toward her.

"Hn. Baka onna. You shouldn't push yourself. It would be a nuisance if you died from hitting your head," Hiei told her. It was he who had caught Kelly and he kept a protective arm around her waist.

"That's Hiei's was of saying that he is concerned for you," Kurama told her with a slight smile.

Kelly snorted very unlady like and said, "Yeah. I can _so_ tell." She turned to Hiei and said in a gentler voice, "Its okay. I can walk on my own now."

"Yes, just as you thought you could before. And yet here I am helping you to stand," he replied. Despite what he said, he let go of Kelly's waist and let her stand on her own.

Truthfully, Kelly was actually disappointed that he had let go of her. He was warm and his strong arm felt so right holding her waist. She pushed these thoughts away knowing that nothing good would come of them. After all, Hiei was a demon, just like Inoji.

"Mmkay. Hot wooder, here I come," Kelly said and she once again set off for the bathroom, this time at a slower pace. She paused to pick up her iPod and place the earphones back in her ears.

When she finally managed to reach the door, she turned back and smiled, assuring everyone that she would be alright and stepped inside, locking the door behind her.

Kuwabara shook his head and said, "That girl is somethin'. Acting like nothing's happened after her nightmare and everything else that's gone on with her."

"Perhaps that is just how she deals with things," Kurama said. He turned to Hiei and asked, "Were you able to get anything off of her?"

"After the nightmare, no," Hiei replied as he went back to sit on the windowsill again. "Her mind was guarded the entire time. They were not good guards, but I've been taught not to pry."

Kurama nodded as he looked towards the bathroom door. Everyone settled in to wait once more for the mysterious girl they had rescued.

* * *

alright, next chapter everything that deals with the experimentation is revealed! this is a very important chapter so i promise to get it out early tomorrow!


	9. Finding Out

umm... i acidentally confused this chapter with chapter ten so everythings not explained until chapter ten  
sorry...

neway i was sooo excited that i got to write wooder yesterday... omg its my fave part of a philly accent lol

* * *

Facing Your Inner Demons

Ch 9: Finding Out

Kelly stood under the steaming hot water, loving how the clean water felt over her skin. Inoji had allowed her to bathe, but it was always with cold, already dirty water. Not exactly what a person wants to get clean with. Right now though, it was if someone had handed her a million dollars, no strings attached.

Kelly's thoughts soon drifted to the feeling of Hiei's arm around her waist. She blushed as she found that she like the thought of his arm still there. No man (besides family of course) had ever even come close to touching her like that. Kelly's thoughts then strayed to her nightmare. No, Inoji didn't count. He would never count. He _couldn't_ count. Kelly shivered despite the warm water.

It didn't matter anyway. It's not like she would go any further with Hiei. He was so unemotional, and he was a demon. She was a half-demon. What demon would want a half-demon, other than as a weapon? It made her sad to think that way. What made her even sadder was the fact that she knew it would be the same way for her human side as well. No human would ever want anything to do with demons. And no matter what happened now, she knew that she would constantly be surrounded with demons and the like.

Kelly sighed as she realized that she would probably be alone for the rest of her life. A sad thought, to tell the truth, but she couldn't just ignore this truth. This was the way things were now. There was no way around it. Kelly was never one to beat around the bush and she wasn't about to start now.

She stood for a moment or two more under the water after she had completely washed off. She then cleared her mind of all thoughts, turned off the water, and stepped out. She dried off, and put on the clothes that Botan had provided her with, careful to not disturb her wounds in any way. She was grateful for the cover up, the others didn't need to see all the bruises and now that her markings were gone the bruises were even more apparent. She noticed a blow dryer on the counter top in the corner of the room. She quickly used it to dry her blonde and purple locks of hair.

Her hair now dry, Kelly took both of her hands and focused her energy into them. Using that energy to act as a flat iron, she quickly straightened her hair and then brought it up into a pony tail using one of the hair ties that she had found on the handle of a brush. Pieces of violet and blonde hairs found their way around her face, too short to be captured along with the rest of her hair.

Taking a deep breath, Kelly walked over to the bathroom door, turned the knob, and then slowly pushed open the door, following behind it.

"Feeling better?" Kurama asked from across the room.

Kelly smiled at him. "Much," she replied. She looked around the room and noticed that another person had entered the room and sat on the bed that Kelly herself had just vacated. The newcomer was female, with bright orange hair cut short and held behind her ears. The energy flowing from her was that of a demon, and a powerful one at that. However, it was not the energy that drew Kelly's attention. It was the fact that the right side of her face seemed to have been mauled, and from the part of her right arm that was poking out of her shirt, Kelly could see that it was robotic. She didn't think it was scary or anything; it intrigued her more than anything else.

"Hello," the woman said. "My name is Mukuro." She held her robotic hand out for Kelly to shake.

Kelly smiled warmly but she was still wary of the demon. What did she want? Kelly shook the demon's hand and said, "I'm Kelly, though you probably already knew that. It's nice to meet you." Kelly cocked her head to the side and gazed around the room. Everyone in there seemed to gauge Kelly's reactions to the woman named Mukuro, especially Hiei. Kelly silently wondered what was so important about Mukuro that her own actions would be analyzed.

Mukuro chuckled slightly and answered Kelly's unspoken question. "Did Inoji ever tell you of the three demon king who each ruled a section of the Makai?"

Kelly nodded as she moved to sit on an empty chair that Botan had motioned to. "Yeah. They were always at odds with on another over whether or not to continue eating humans. But Inoji said that one had died and the other two were replaced or something. Inoji said something about a tournament deciding who replaced them… which honestly doesn't make sense to me cuz what if the demon who won was a totally crappy ruler, ya know?" Kelly stopped when she heard a laugh from many of the people in the room. "What?" she asked.

"They laugh because it was Yusuke here who came up with the idea of a tournament to decide the ruler of the Makai." Mukuro answered with a smile.

Yusuke scowled. "Well sooooorry," he said sarcastically.

Kelly immediately felt bad for insulting one of her rescuers. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean it to be insulting. I'm really sorry." Yusuke waved her off, letting her know he hadn't taken offense to it.

"Okay! So… yeah. What about those three kings?" Kelly asked, turning her attention to Mukuro again.

Mukuro nodded and said, "The three kings' names were Raizen, Yomi, and Mukuro."

"No freakin' way," Kelly said with a surprised and awed look on her face.

"Way," Kurama replied with a small chuckle. "And remember how you said that the one king died?" Kelly nodded. "Well he was replaced, though the one who replaced him did not last very long because of his tournament that denounced his own title as king."

It took Kelly a moment before she understood what Kurama had meant. "No freakin' way," she said again. She turned to Yusuke and said," You're a king? Or an ex-king I guess, right?" Yusuke nodded, a huge grin plastered on his face.

Kelly looked around the room again, eyeing each person there. Finally, she blurted out, "Just who the hell are you people?"

"They were once my Rekai Tentei, or Spirit Detectives as you would call it," said a voice from the other side of Botan's chair.

Kelly blinked and was just about to ask if Botan's chair had decided to talk when a small child who looked no older than about two years old walked into view, binky and all.

Once again, Kelly blinked. The others had come to realize that this meant that she was surprised.

"Though they no longer work for me because of my father, I asked them for one last mission. I sent them to go save you, so you really should be thanking me," the toddler said as he walked to stand in front of Kelly.

Again, another blink. She didn't take her eyes off of the tiny boy in front of her as she said, "The toddler's talkin' to me. I swear he's talkin' to me. It's official. After these past two weeks, I've finally gone mad."

Yusuke and Kuwabara burst out laughing while Kurama, Botan, and Mukuro covered their mouths to hide their laughter. Hiei simply smirked.

"I AM NOT A TODDLER! I'M MUCH OLDER THAN YOU ARE! MY NAME IS KOENMA AND I AM THE CROWNED PRINCE OF SPIRIT WORLD!" Koenma yelled at her, putting his face within inches of her as if to express his point.

This time Kelly blinked so much it appeared as it her eyelids were on the fritz. She regained her composure, managed to stop blinking and sat up straight so that her face was no longer close to Koenma's.

"Koenma… riiight. Inoji told me about you. But, see, he was afraid of you. Never thought that he'd be afraid of… um… never mind," she said. She held her hand out, hesitated, and then pushed Koenma away causing him to fall on his butt. "Oops," Kelly said as she smiled sheepishly at Koenma.

Koenma's face turned a dark shade of red as he got up and tried to lunge at Kelly. She held up both her hands to defend herself but Koenma's attack never came. Kelly looked up to see a blue creature with a horn on his head and wearing nothing but a caveman-like loincloth. He stood before Kelly holding Koenma by his shirt as he kicked and squirmed.

"Sorry, sir. I don't think that it would be very wise of you to try to harm the girl you sent the Rekai Tentei to save," the blue creature told Koenma.

"I don't pay you to think, ogre!" Koenma yelled at him.

Under his breath the ogre muttered, "You don't pay me at all…"

Despite his protests, Koenma calmed down and the ogre placed him gently back on the floor. Koenma huffed and looked back up at Kelly, an angry expression still on his face.

"Well now, as I was saying… these four here, Yusuke, Kuwabara, Hiei, and Kurama were part of a group known as the Rekai Tentei, the Spirit Detectives. Though only Yusuke was an official Spirit Detective, Kuwabara joined because of his newly developed powers. Kurama and Hiei on the other hand, were forced to join in order to be pardoned for a crime they committed together that was busted by Yusuke," Koenma informed her.

"Crime they committed?" Kelly asked with another blink of her eyes. She looked back and forth between Kurama and Hiei. Hiei continued to look out the window, seemingly uninterested in everything being said.

Kurama however, smiled slightly and said, "It was about five years ago. It's a long story though. Perhaps we will be able to tell it to you."

Kelly smirked, knowing that he just wanted to avoid the story being told. "I look forward to it," she told him. He smiled and sighed in defeat.

Kelly looked back to Koenma and asked, "So if you're the prince of Spirit World then is that where I am? In Spirit World?"

Koenma nodded. "Yes, now I know you want to go home, but I'm afraid that I can't let you go just yet," Koenma told her gently. He saw her face fall. "Now, now. You're going to go home, I assure you. But I need to take care of some things first. You need to tell me everything that happened to you from beginning to end."

This made Kelly even more upset. She had just started to forget it all. The last thing she wanted to do was remember it all over again and then tell it to other people.

"Kelly, we need to know," Botan said to her, taking her hand again.

Kelly nodded. "I know," she said quietly.

Kelly reached into her pocket, pulled out her iPod, put the earphones in, and turned it on. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and then opened them again. She looked at each person in the room starting from Botan and ending with Hiei. This time, his eyes were focused upon hers instead of out the window. She drew strength from those eyes once again and then looked back at the rest of the group, ready to tell her story.

* * *

okay so i wanted to explain why Mukuro is there in the first place cause i never do in the actual stroy because its not important to kelly... shes there simply because hiei informed her that the mission was over nd she wanted to see the result of inoji's experiment. i think that mukuro would do that wouldn't you? she wanted to scope out upcoming tough demons and what not so yeah...


	10. Kelly's story

ok! finally! everything is explained in this chapter and the stroy can finally progress into the future!

Facing Your Inner Demons

Ch 10: Kelly's Story

"About two weeks ago, on a Saturday, my family was out and I was the only one home," Kelly began. "It was like, a little after one in the afternoon, I guess. I was in the kitchen when I heard the front door open in the living room. I thought my brother might be home so I didn't go check.

"Next thing I knew I was on the ground fighting for consciousness. My head throbbed with pain. Inoji knelt down and I finally got a good look at him. I remember thinkin' I had gone mental and then everything went black.

"I woke up in more pain than I had ever been in. Everything hurt," Kelly closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around herself.

"I was in Inoji's lab. There were a bunch of other demons there, looking over charts and computers. When one of 'em noticed I was awake, they called Inoji. He came and I'll never forget the creep smile on his face. He was so _happy_ with what I had become," she opened her eyes again.

"Of course, I didn't understand what had happened to me. I only knew that I was in so much pain. Inoji told me it was because my body was still 'transforming' or somethin'. My body was gettin' stronger and becoming more demon-like I guess you could say.

"The pain left after about one and a half days. When I could finally focus without the pain getting' in the way, Inoji brought me a mirror. I had the weird markings all over me, my teeth were all vampire-like, and my hair had these purple streaks in it," Kelly motioned to herself and her hair.

"Inoji told me of demons and the spirit world, the three kings, and the tournament. Inoji apparently had high hopes for me. He said somethin' 'bout me havin' the capability to reach the level of a lower S-class demon, maybe higher but it was unlikely."

"How strong are you now?" Hiei surprised her by asking.

"In the last training session I had with Inoji, he told me that I was at least in B-class. He said a little bit more training and I would be a lower A-class. The ability to progress quickly was a small quirk that Inoji had given me," she told him with no emotion in her voice.

Hiei nodded but said nothing. Kelly took this as a signal to continue.

"Inoji then explained what he had done to me. I understood most of it, but didn't see how any of it was possible. He said that he had injected me with demon genes. He said that he was able to make it so that the genes were injected directly into my cells and into the DNA. When the cells duplicated, they contained demon genes. It was like a chain reaction, ya know? Start with one cell and soon all of 'em were part demon, kinda like Spiderman. I guess that the only part of me that is completely human would be my brain."

"Why just the brain?" Yusuke asked.

"Because brain cells do not divide," Kurama told him. "The demon DNA would never have reached the DNA of her brain cells to begin with, let alone divide into more brain cells."

Kelly nodded. "Right, so Inoji would have had ta inject every single cell in my brain with demon genes. Which is almost impossible."

Yusuke nodded showing that he understood, for the most part at least.

Kelly continued, "Inoji had taken the genes from many types of demons, so I actually have lots of different demon types within me. That's why my markings are all outta wack. There's so many demons genes, hence so many markings. I can also control just about every element, though each element is limited to a certain point because of that wide range of control. I can only do so much with a certain amount of demon genes."

As if to emphasize this point, Kelly held out her hand and focused her energy. A fireball appeared in her hand. It glowed red and orange but was quickly replace by a ball of water taken from a cup on the table near her. The water was in turn frozen into another ball. Kelly let it drop into her hand and then threw it up into the air. She held out her hand and a gust of wind blew the frozen water back into the cup it had come out of. She left her hand held out and suddenly it was surrounded with electric sparks. Kelly let the sparks turn brighter until suddenly they stopped.

"And then of course my demon energy," Kelly said. She held her hand out again, palm up and focused a ball of green energy there. "And my spirit energy…" The ball of energy turned blue. "And finally, my half-demon energy…" The ball turned a bright silver color.

Kelly's face screwed up in concentration as she struggled to keep the energy in her hand. The ball sparkled, the energy flowing from her hand too freely. She lost control and the energy exploded in her hand.

"Shit!" Kelly yelled. She pulled her hand to her chest where she cradled it. She pulled it back to examine it. There was a black scorch mark on her palm and it stung terribly.

Damn it Kel. You should be able to control this by now," Kelly muttered to herself.

"Here, let me see it," Kurama said gently, holding one of his hands out. Kelly hesitated but then gave her hand to him as he examined it.

Still holding her hand, Kurama reached into a fold in his strange shirt and pulled out a small bottle filled with some type of ointment. He took the cap off, poured some of the ointment onto Kelly's wound and rubbed it in.

"It always explodes," Kelly said sheepishly as Kurama worked on her wound. Inoji said it was because my demon energy counter acted with my spirit energy. It doesn't do that for natural half-demons because the demon energy is natural. My spirit energy isn't well _used to_ my demon energy, I guess you could say. My body and control acts as a medium and when that control is gone, the two energies explode."

"There," Kurama said, releasing her hand. "That will ease the pain and make it heal faster."

Kelly thanked him and pulled her hand pack. The pain had subsided slightly already.

"That was an interesting display of power," Mukuro said.

"Yeah it was!" Yusuke agreed loudly. "I never thought it was possible for someone to be able to control so many elements."

"It's not, actually," Kelly told him. "The only reason it is possible for me is because that was the way I was made. Inoji wanted me to be able to do this. I was… created… to be used as a weapon."

"I thought he made you to, you know, just brag that he did," Kuwabara said.

Kelly shook her head. "No, he was actually _hired_ to make a half-demon. At least, this time he was. I know that in the past he had tried and failed, just because he wanted to. But this time someone paid him to make me. He _used_ the other doctors and then killed them when I was complete." _That_ caught everyone's attention.

Koenma finally spoke up. "Hired? By who? And why?"

"I only know that the demon's name is Lon." Kelly paused to see if anyone recognized the name. Nobody said anything so she continued. "He hired Inoji to create a half-demon and then train said half-demon until the next tournament arrived, which is next year or somethin' like that. I was supposed to be strong enough to win I guess and when I did I would be king but follow whatever Lon told me to do. So I guess he's not very strong, but very rich. But then again, that doesn't really make sense to me…"

"Why not?" Botan asked.

"Because, if I was strong enough to beat all those demons in the tournament, then couldn't I just kill him?" Kelly pointed out.

"You're right, that doesn't make sense…" Koenma agreed. He shook his head then said, "Well, we'll try to figure that out later. You should finish with your story."

"Oh… right… lovely," she said sarcastically. She took a deep breath once more to prepare herself.

"Well, after I was informed and all, Inoji decided to begin training. For the first half of the day I would train trying to control my powers. What I just showed you was about how far I had gotten. I can use them as attacks, but I figured this wasn't the place to show you.

"About halfway through the first week though I discovered that I could concentrate my energy into a solid form and create weapons."

Once again, Kelly paused to demonstrate. She held out both hands, concentrated her demon energy and formed two sabers, one in each hand. If it weren't for the green color, one would have thought they were real. Kelly released the energy and the weapon disappeared.

"Also, as Hiei saw in my mind, I can emanate music from my body. This is the only one of my abilities that is not an attack and the only one that is caused by my spirit energy. It was something that was greatly affected by my human life and brought out by my training with Inoji. Remember, he chose me because I had unnaturally high spirit energy for a human, as I'm sure Yusuke and Kuwabara do, though mine is not nearly as powerful, nor will it ever be."

Kelly laughed quietly. "That's a lot of power isn't it? It's actually kind of ridiculous, but that's the way Inoji intended it to be I think. His plan kinda backfired though. With so many powers, I will never be strong enough to control them all, never strong enough to compete with any of you."

"Anyway, the second part of the day was physical training. I was brought into the basement of the palace… mansion… thingy… where there was a huge maze. Inoji made me run through it. If I made a wrong turn, I had to fight a demon he had sent in. I didn't win a lot when I first started, but I got better. Eventually I never lost and it was only when I got out of the maze did I have trouble.

"Inoji… always waited… for me at the end," Kelly said in a low voice. She looked at the ground and continued, "He would attack me and I never stood a chance. He always won, and when he did, he… he…" but she couldn't finish.

"She took a deep breath and said, "He never got all the way though. I would eventually find the strength to throw up a barrier, the one you guys broke through. Which is impossible by the way. I don't know how you did it." She continued to look at the ground.

She felt a hand on her shoulder. She didn't look up but she knew the hand belonged to Botan.

"I broke the barrier," said Kuwabara quietly.

Kelly finally looked up and blinked. "How?"

Kuwabara held out his right hand and suddenly a sword made of his energy seemed to sprout from his hand.

"With this," Kuwabara said to Kelly. "It has the power to break through any barrier and even dimensions. Pretty cool, huh?"

"Yeah actually…" Kelly said, smiling at him. "I didn't think that it was possible to break my barriers. It's the one power I had completely mastered, the one power I made perfect. Mainly because I had to…" she trailed off, lost in thought.

Her thought were interrupted after a moment by Yusuke. "So that silver energy that exploded on your hand, how did you learn to control that?"

Kelly looked at him and cocked her head. "Control it? She asked. "I can't control it. Like you said, it exploded in my hand!"

Yusuke shrugged and said, "That's not my point. You were able to use it. How?"

Kelly sat and thought. She wanted to ask why it mattered. Yusuke could probably use the energy as well, though it might have been a different color. After all, he was a half-demon too. What was the big deal? However, she figured that she should just answer the question.

"Yeah, I'm able to use it. It's harder to control than my spirit energy or my demon energy because of the reasons I gave earlier, but I'm gettin' there," she answered. "Why? Wha' 's wrong?" she asked, making 'what is' sound like one word melded together without it being the contraction. There was no 't' in the word she used.

"Nothing's wrong. The detective is just jealous that an onna like you who has had your powers for only two weeks is already able to harness powers of a hanyou," Hiei remarked with a smirk on his face.

This brought laughs from everyone but Yusuke and Kelly, the former of which scowled and yelled, "Listen shrimp. You keep talkin' like that and I'll give you a repeat of our last fight!"

"Hn. Our last fight was a draw, remember?" Hiei responded. He then turned his attention to Kelly who looked confused and hurt at the same time.

"An onna like me, huh?" Kelly said with a sad smile on her face. "Am I that pathetic?"

A small flicker of emotion flitted across Hiei's face, but he was his same stoic self within seconds.

"Oh. No, Kelly he didn't mean that, did you Hiei?" Botan said, looking back and forth from Kelly to Hiei.

Kelly didn't wait to find out if Hiei would respond. "It doesn't matter. Its fine," she assured Botan who still looked at Kelly with a worried face.

Mukuro turned to Hiei and said, "Hiei that was hardly necessary."

Hiei shot an angered look and then looked back at Kelly. She seemed fine, but Hiei could see in her eyes that she was upset. He didn't understand why though. She shouldn't have taken what he said so literally. Was she afraid of being rejected by them?

Kelly looked over to Yusuke and asked again, "So what's wrong with me being able to use my half-demon power?"

Yusuke shrugged and responded, "Nothing's wrong. In Hiei's own way, he was right. I was kinda surprised that someone who only had two weeks of training could already use their half-demon power."

"Oh… okay I guess," Kelly said with a confused look on her face. "Anyway, I guess that basically sums everything up, right? For your report, I mean." She said to Koenma who had been quiet for most of Kelly's story.

Koenma nodded. "Yes, that's everything I need. Thank you," he said as he stood up. "Now about your returning home, I'm afraid you're going to have to wait a little bit. We need to somehow explain where you've been. Your parents reported you missing of course, so you cannot just pop up out of nowhere. We will also need to assign you with a bodyguard."

"A bodyguard? That sucks," Kelly said. "Can't I just beat up any demons that come after me on my own?"

"Wait, why would demons go after her?" Botan asked.

"Cuz, like I said, I was made this way for a reason. Lon wanted me and now he's lost me. He'll be after me," Kelly answered her.

Kurama and Hiei stole a glance at each other then quickly turned away.

-Well, at least we're dealing with a smart onna.- Hiei said telepathically to Kurama.

-Yes. It does help that she is fully aware of all the dangers that surround her.- Kurama thought in return.

Kelly turned back to Koenma with a pleading look in her eyes. Koenma shook his head.

"I'm sorry Kelly, but you need a bodyguard," he told her.

"Crappers," Kelly said with a sigh.

Yusuke chuckled and said, "You say some weird things."

Kelly smiled at him. "Yeah but at least I'm not so weird that I can have the nickname slick," she said, pointing to his hair. "Seriously, like Danny Zuko much?"

* * *

ha ha you know, like Danny Zuko from Grease? Kuwabara and Yusuke's hair always reminded me of them so i put that in there

o yeah... Kelly's silver hanyou energy is the same as Yusuke's gold one... the one he used in his fight against Yomi. They (meaning the main characters) first thought it was Sensui's sacre energy but it wasn't. In fact they never told you what it was... so i made it his hanyou energy and made Kelly's silver energy the same thing only not nearly as strong

please remember that Kelly will never be as strong as the others... like never it was the price she and Inoji payed for having all those powers that she does she may make it to S-class but it will be a lower S-class, nothing like Yusuke and the others


	11. Moving Along

**disclaimer: **don't own Yu Yu Hakusho or characters... oh yeah i dont own iPod either, forgot about that one before but i sooo wish i did

Facing Your Inner Demons

Ch 11: Moving Along

Kelly spent the rest of the day in Spirit World and was brought the next day to a temple that belonged to an old woman named Genkai. Kelly immediately took a liking to her. She could put any of Kelly's rescuer's in their places, even Hiei.

Kelly was also introduced to three younger girls, but still older than her. The first was Keiko, a kind yet fiery brunette who was dating Yusuke. The first time Kelly had seen her, she had pulled Yusuke into the room by his ear and they were arguing away. When she had found out that they were actually dating, she had been more than surprised. But then again, she lived in America; she had seen more than her share of strange relationships.

The second was Yukina. Kelly was extremely intrigued by Yukina. She was an ice maiden which surprised Kelly. Inoji had told her that about the ice maidens and they weren't supposed to leave the floating island where they lived. But here Yukina was, blue hair, tear gems, and all. Kelly had asked her why she left and she had told Kelly that she was looking for her long lost brother. This surprised Kelly even more, but she didn't question and didn't try to pry. It was Yukina's business, not hers.

The third was Shizuru. Kelly had been glad to meet another older sister, for she was one herself. She loved to talk with Shizuru about the pains of having a younger brother and she even managed to get over Shizuru's addition to smoking. The older girl made up for it with her humorous dealings with Kuwabara.

Mukuro and Hiei had disappeared after three days of Kelly's being at Genkai's. Kurama had told her that they went back to the Makai to continue with "border control". To her though, it just sounded like deporting illegal aliens like back in America.

Kelly would never admit it, but she missed the fire apparition, or as everyone else kept saying, "youkai", but she had stuck to thinking in English terms. She had felt calm near Hiei, and now that he was gone she was afraid again. He had made her feel safe, as if no demons were after her.

The three days he _had_ spent at Genkai's were usually spent on a windowsill while everyone was inside, or in a tree when they were outside. When Kelly was afraid or nervous, or even homesick during those three days, all she had to do was find Hiei's constant gaze on her and she knew everything was okay.

It was strange, in a way. Kelly had never felt that way, the complete calm that Hiei provided her without ever trying to. In just those few short days that Kelly had met Hiei, she knew already that she was falling for him.

That was strange as well. From everything that Kurama had told her about Hiei, she should have been afraid of him, or at least intimidated. But she wasn't and _that's_ what frightened her.

Kurama had also told Kelly about himself, Yusuke, and Kuwabara. He told her how Yusuke had died an unexpected death and was granted a new life and became Spirit Detective. He told her about his own past, how he was actually two people. He had told her of the Dark Tournament and then about Sensui and Kuwabara's new sword. And finally, he told her of how they went their separate ways, met the three kings of Demon World, and competed in the tournament to become king.

Kelly found herself being lost in Kurama's stories. She couldn't believe that these four young men had found themselves on such wild adventures. She also couldn't believe that they had gone through with any of it either.

"Afraid? Kurama asked with surprise after Kelly had been listening to another one of his stories. This time it was of Sensui. Kelly wanted to know if they had been afraid when they fought them.

"Of course we were afraid, but it was something that we had to do. If we didn't, Japan and the rest of the Ningenkai wouldn't be here right now," Kurama had told her. "Everyone is afraid to die, it's only natural. However, it's how you _deal_ with that fear that matters. You can either face it straight on or you can run from it, and honestly none of us have ever been very good at running from a fight." Kurama smiled at this last part.

Kelly committed these words to memory and repeated them to herself everyday during training. She always knew that she would loose to the three guys (she had gotten Kuwabara to fight her after she had kicked him around for a bit and he had used the excuse that real men should always help a girl in training) but she never backed down. By the end of the week and four days that she had been there, she could fight all three at once for a good half-hour before they completely dominated her.

Also by the end of her stay, she had grown very close to her rescuers and the four females. Yusuke and Kuwabara were always good for a laugh. Keiko, Yukina, and Shizuru were always kind to her and were always around when she got tired of all the testosterone. Genkai too proved to be very good company. The two could often be found at two in the morning playing a video game that they had started at eight the night before. Video games were one of Kelly's specialties as everyone had soon found out when she had beaten Yusuke in a fighting game four times in a row.

Then there was Kurama. Kelly felt a greater pull towards Kurama than any of the others, besides Hiei. He was nicer than anyone Kelly had ever met and he was exceptionally smart. Smart guys always won a space in Kelly's book. She herself was in the top ten percent of her grade.

Kurama was always there when Kelly needed help, or when she just wanted to talk. Besides his retelling of the Spirit Detectives pasts, they talked about other things such as music (Kelly's personal favorite subject), books, manga, America, Japan, or anything else they felt like. Despite how much they talked though, Kurama always felt like he never accomplished in cracking the shell that seemed to always surround Kelly, stopping everyone from ever seeing her fully. Kurama and the other had learned a lot about their new companion, and yet they still felt distant from her.

* * *

After spending eleven days of becoming more and more anxious to go home, Kelly finally received good news.

"Hey, Kelz!" Yusuke yelled up the stairs using the nickname he had _so_ wittingly come up with for Kelly. "Koenma's here to talk to ya, so get those thing outta your ears and get your lazy ass down here!"

"Jeez, no need to be so crude," Kelly said, walking down the steps a minute later. "And no way I'm takin' 'em out," she said, gesturing to her ear phones.

Yusuke chuckled and said, "No need to be crude my butt. You curse more than any other girl and most other guys that I know."

Kelly rolled her eyes. "Whatever," she said. "So, wha's Koenma want?" Once again, there was no "t" when she spoke.

"Says he's talked to your family. You're going home tomorrow," Yusuke said.

Kelly's eyes grew wide and she bolted out of there fast, making her way through the hug temple to the "living room" as Kelly called it.

She literally slid into the room, threw her arms out to balance herself, and looked around as she came to a stop. At the long table on various colored cushions sat Botan, Hiei, Mukuro, Kurama, Kuwabara, Genkai, and another teenager that she had never seen before. Then, she noticed the binky.

"Koenma?" Kelly asked, blinking.

"That's right," he answered with a slight nod of his head.

"Oh… okay… if you say so, I guess," Kelly said, still unsure.

A laugh came from behind her. Kelly turned around to see that Yusuke had made his way into the room.

"Yup, that's diaper breath. He like's to suddenly grow up from time to time," Yusuke said as he sat down on an empty cushion. He patted the empty one between him and Kurama.

Kelly sat down on the cushion Yusuke had patted and looked back their visitors. Mukuro nodded a hello and Kelly smiled in response. She had missed the demon's witty sense of humor and her cunningness in handling the boys, Yusuke in particular.

Kelly then turned her attention to Hiei. Seeing his crimson eyes again restored that feeling of calmness that she had so desperately needed. However, his expression seemed annoyed.

Hiei's gaze turned to Kelly, his red eyes on her hazel ones. They sat like that for a moment, silently acknowledging each other and Kelly noticed that his annoyed expression was gone, replaced instead with one of curiosity. Kelly felt face heat up under his scrutiny and so she turned her attention back to Koenma who was conversing quietly with Mukuro who sat beside him. He nodded and then turned toward Kelly again.

"Right, well Yusuke obviously told you why I'm here," he said. Kelly nodded but said nothing. "I've spoken to you parents…"

Kelly nodded again, slower this time and it seemed she was holding her breath.

Koenma continued, "I saw no way around it. I've explained _everything_ to them. I've taken care of the police as well. The official reports will be that you were kidnapped, the police were able to arrest the man who kidnapped you and you were returned home safely."

"Mmkay sounds good I guess. Whatever works, ya know?" Kelly said. She was even more anxious now. She just wanted to go home and see her family and sleep in her own bed, play her iPod as loud as she could in her room, and read her books again.

"Now, like I said before, you'll need a bodyguard," Koenma told her. "You've become very strong at an amazing pace, but if this Lon is as persistent as he most likely is then you will definitely need protection."

Kelly sighed. "Yeah, okay, whatever. So, who is it?" she asked with a depressed look on her face.

"Me," said Hiei.

Good-bye depressed look.


	12. Set in Motion

okay, couple of things need to be explained at the end of this chapter so dont worry if you think i made a mistake, please see the notes at the end

* * *

Facing Your Inner Demons

Ch 12: Set in Motion

Kelly turned to look at Hiei with surprised and wide eyes, and if anyone looked close enough, they would notice the excitement in them as well. She now understood why he had looked so annoyed when she had first entered the room.

Kelly opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out. She wanted to ask why but didn't know how to word it without seeming rude.

"I was ordered to," Hiei answered before she could ask.

"Ordered to…" Kelly said, confused. "Why?" She immediately looked to Mukuro.

Mukuro smiled and nodded. "Yes. I ordered him to. Koenma agreed with me as well. I wanted someone from my team to go. Any demon that comes after you has officially broken demon law and it is my team's job to capture said law breakers. Hiei was the best choice. He can pass as a human, is an S-class demon, and his Jagan eye is an incredible asset for protecting another.

Kelly nodded her head. It made sense.

Kelly was silently happy with the decision. She knew Hiei could protect her, that he would never let any harm come to her. But that wasn't the only reason. She didn't want to see him leave again. She wanted to stay near him. What was scaring her though was that she couldn't, and Hiei's next statement proved her right.

"Hn. The _only_ reason I agreed was because the toddler turned teen here agreed to completely clear my criminal record," Hiei said, crossing his arms and looking at Koenma. (1)

Koenma nodded. "That's right. I swear to uphold my end of the bargain as long as you uphold yours."

"You'll find that I don't go back on my word. The onna is safe," Hiei said.

Kelly's hopes dropped. She knew that she shouldn't be surprised. She had already learned that Hiei was not the one to do anything unless he gained something in return. She knew this, and yet se was still disappointed that his criminal record was his only motivation.

"So, everything bad Shorty's ever done will be gone?" Kuwabara asked.

"Yes, all evidence of the good-old-days will be gone," Hiei said with a small sigh and a smirk.

"What? You mean when you were five inches shorter?" Yusuke asked with a laugh.

Kelly blinked. "You used to be shorter than you are now? _Five inches_ shorter?"

Kuwabara and Yusuke burst out laughing while Kurama put a hand over his mouth to cover a small smile and a low chuckle.

"I suggest you hold your tongue, onna," Hiei said with a dangerous flash of his eyes at her.

Kelly smiled sheepishly, not even bothered by the look he gave her but merely sorry she had insulted him. "Sorry," she said quietly.

Koenma sighed and said, "All right, it's decided then. Your parents have already been informed of both your arrival and Hiei as well."

Kelly nodded then cocked her head to the side. "So… where's Hiei gonna stay, 'cause there's definitely no room in my house at _all_," Kelly said.

"Worry about yourself, onna. I can fend for myself," Hiei said.

"And where will you sleep?"

"Do you have a tree in your yard?"

"Yes…" Kelly waited for a response but got none. "You're gonna sleep in a tree? That _cannot_ be comfortable."

Hiei merely shrugged and then turned to Koenma and said, "She needs a communicator."

"Ah, right." Koenma reached into his pocket and pulled out what appeared to be a pink powder compact. He placed it on the table and slid it over to Kelly.

She grabbed and picked it up to inspect it closely.

"It's pink," she said with a hint of disgust.

Yusuke chuckled and said, "I take it you don't like pink?" Kelly shook her head. "Most girls love that color."

Kelly looked at him skeptically and said, "Yusuke, you should know by now that I'm not like most girls."

Yusuke laughed. "Yeah, ain't that the truth…"

Kelly smiled then turned back to Koenma. "So, I can use this thingy to contact you, I'm guessin'?" she asked him, holding up the communicator.

"Not only me," he said. "But anyone else who has one. Everyone here has one, including Mukuro to keep her updated. I also gave one to your parents, just in case."

Kelly nodded. "So, are we done here?"

"Yes. I suggest you get a good night's sleep and prepare for tomorrow. Botan, Hiei and I will arrive early tomorrow to pick you up. Unless… Hiei, do you plan on staying here for tonight?" Koenma looked over at the fire apparition.

"Yes, I'll stay here," Hiei said. (2)

Kelly was surprised by his answer. She didn't think that Hiei would _want_ to stay in the Human World anymore than he had to. She opened her mouth to voice her surprise, but thought better of it and instead asked, "So how long am I gonna be babysat for?"

"Either until Lon is captured or dead, or until you obtain the strength of an S-class demon," said Koenma. "You will not be able to train while you have school, but your parents have informed me that you have only a half a semester left. When your summer vacation comes around we will discuss mean of training you."

"Aww, more training?" Kelly whined. She had gone through about a week of training at Genkai's temple and she did not want more of it. She was a lazy person by nature and more training did not suit her interests at _all._

Kurama chuckled beside her. "Yes, _more_ training. You don't want to be 'babysat' for long, do you?" he asked with a smile.

"No," Kelly sighed. She then stood, picking up her iPod which she had placed (though the ear buds still remained in her ears) and started to leave. "All right, I guess I'll see ya all tomorrow," she said with a wave.

Choruses of various versions of goodnight reached her ears as she walked slowly down the long hallway. She made her way up a flight of stairs, down another hallway, and made a sharp turn to the right at the end. The hallway dead ended to a door that led to the room she was staying in.

As soon as Kelly opened her bedroom door, all the thoughts she had been suppressing seemed to explode in her head. The strongest thought, was of course, that she was finally going home. She was going to see her family. She was going to sleep in her own bed. She could blare her iPod on her stereo so loud that her father would come in and yell at her to turn it down.

Finally, the euphoria settled down. Kelly lay down on her bed and stared at the ceiling. The part she was dreading was coming up. The goodbyes would be said soon. She had tried to not get attached to everyone. She tried not to get too close to them.

She had failed horribly.

Never before had Kelly felt the way that she did now. She was _happy_ with her new companions. They accepted her, included her, and made her feel like she mattered. Nobody else had made her feel that way.

"So then why don't you admit that you see them as friends?"

Kelly sat up quickly and looked to her window where the voice had come from. There sat Hiei on Kelly's window seat looking over at her with an unemotional expression, as usual.

Kelly merely looked at him and said, "It's not polite to enter someone's room without knockin'. Nor is it polite to read someone's thoughts without their permission."

Kelly laid back on her bed an put her hands behind her head and crossed her legs, her right foot jiggling in time to the music playing in her ears. She stared at the ceiling again and tried to ignore her visitor. She did _not_ want to have this conversation.

"Hn. You were broadcasting, onna. I came to tell you to be quiet. Your thoughts were giving me a headache," he retorted.

Kelly put feeble barriers around her thoughts. They were not strong enough to keep Hiei out if he tried hard enough to read her thoughts, but they kept her thoughts to herself and prevented Hiei from reading her thoughts without having to do work. As she had said before, she wasn't very good at protecting her mind. She then looked over at Hiei.

A flood of emotions suddenly filled Kelly as she gazed over at the fire apparition. Her chest suddenly tightened and she couldn't breathe. Kelly took a deep breath to keep the oxygen going in her system and tried to remain calm. The feeling was so sudden. All she did was _look_ at him. But it was what she saw that had made her feel so strange.

He looked exactly the way he always did, black cloak, white scarf, spiky black hair that made Newton seem like a dummy. And yet, it was as if she were seeing him for the first time.

He sat with his back to one of the sides of the seat, facing her. His left leg hung over the side of the window seat and his right was bent up, his foot flat on the surface of the seat. His right arm lounged over his raised leg while his left arm crossed over his lap.

It was a casual stance, but to Kelly, at that moment, it was the most attractive thing she had ever seen. _He_ was the most attractive thing she had ever seen.

Kelly silently thanked God that her barriers were up because her next thought was deadly to herself and to Hiei.

She loved him.

* * *

(1)-okay i know that Koenma had wiped his record clean when he forced Hiei to join Yusuke. but see i wasn't sure if he just wiped the record of that one crime or all of it, so in this story the record was only wiped of that one crime. now, Koenma is wiping the entire thing. im sorry, but i needed an excuse for Hiei to stay so i changed that around a bit. hope you all dont mind

(2)- and if you didnt figure it out (not that i gave many hints but c'mon its hiei) Hiei stayed at Genkai's because of Yukina. He only got three days to watch over her before and so now he wants one more day to see her... simple as that


	13. Confusions Abound

yay! ch 13! this is the chapter that gave me the title to the story... its a major chapter to the development of Kelly and to Hiei as well so enjoy!

oh yeah... thanks to everyone who reviewed i guess last chapter was popular cause everyone really liked it lol it makes writing that much easier to do cause i know that people like it so thank you all so much!

* * *

Facing Your Inner Demons

Ch 13: Confusions Abound

Kelly continued to gaze over at Hiei, silently berating herself. She couldn't love him. There was no possible way. None at all. She barely even knew him. From what she did know about him should certainly deter her from loving him. He was cold, uncaring, merciless, and unemotional. He had killed countless of demons and didn't feel any remorse. He was _bad._

And yet, she knew it was not true. Kurama had told her how much Hiei had changed, and not just in height. Kurama had said that on the Demon World border control, Hiei had rescued more humans than any other demon operative. Kurama had also told her that Hiei was calmer now and wasn't as quick to anger as he used to.

She knew all of this and yet she still argued with herself. He would leave in the end; just like everyone else she had ever considered a friend. She would just get her heart crushed and her feelings heart again. And she didn't know if she could handle the pain again.

Hiei, meanwhile, sat on the window seat looking Kelly over. Her demon markings had faded shortly after the doctors had helped to heal her, but her hair still had the purple streaks in them. Kelly had told Hiei and everyone else that she had lost at least twenty pounds while training with Inoji. She hadn't been fat before, she had said, but she hadn't been thin either.

He could no longer hear her thoughts, but emotions flitted across her face, like someone had a remote and was constantly turning the channels on a television. Only, the television was her face. He did not understand the first look to appear on her face, but he found that he was very nervous from it. Then, in the back of his mind, he found that he liked the way she was looking at him, that soft glow in her eyes that made him feel as if she were peering into his soul. One that made him feel clean, as if he had never killed, never been cold in his life.

The look didn't last long as it was replaced by confusion, anger, and then sadness. Hiei didn't understand what could cause a person to experience so many feelings in such a short amount of time.

He looked her over again and noted her lazy way of lounging, her only movement being her foot as it went along to the music that never seemed to stray to far from her. She had once referred to her iPod as her best friend because it was always there for her, never failing to comfort her.

Hiei had secretly come to admire the girl. She put on a brave face, laughed and smiled, but he knew that deep down, she was hurting. He didn't know how someone like her could just act as if nothing was wrong. She had been through "hell and back" as she had told him the first time they had met, and yet she always said she was fine.

He wasn't stupid though. He knew that she just wanted to break down and cry. But she didn't and _that_ was why Hiei admired her. She was much stronger mentally than any other person he had met, except perhaps Mukuro of course.

As he had heard her thoughts just moments ago, he now knew that the pain ran even deeper than the experimentation performed on her. Something had happened to her before she ever became a hanyou.

"Why do you not admit that you see them as friends?" Hiei repeated his earlier question, breaking the silence.

Kelly frowned. "Because they're not. I barely even know them," she answered.

"Don't lie to me, onna," Hiei said to her in a warning tone. "I just heard you admit that you were attached to them."

Kelly paused her music, a sign that she was about to be serious for a change, took her earphones out of her ears, and wrapped them around her iPod. She sat up and faced Hiei.

"I cannot be attached to them," she said with no emotion in her voice, and her accent almost completely gone, another sign that she was serious.

"And why not?" Hiei asked, slightly frustrated that he was not getting anywhere.

Kelly looked down and closed her eyes. "Because, they will all just leave in the end. I'm going back to America. They're staying here in Japan. I'll never see them again when this is all over," she said, still emotionless.

Hiei was about to respond but Kelly suddenly looked up, a look of anger in her eyes. "Who are you to ask about friendship? You deny that Yusuke and the others are _your_ friends," she accused.

"I do not deny it. I merely do not admit it. There is a difference," he told her with a stern voice.

She opened her mouth to respond but found that she didn't know how. So even Hiei grew attached to Yusuke and the others. He viewed them as friends even. But she was stubborn.

"That still doesn't change things," she snapped at him.

"No, I guess it doesn't. Only _you_ change things. I'm only here to give you little push in the right direction," Hiei said to her.

Kelly glared at him and said nothing.

"Why are you so afraid to be close to them? Who left you?" Hiei asked, uncharacteristically soft.

Kelly's eyes widened in surprise at this question. She looked at his eyes again. Big mistake on her part. Hiei's red eyes bored into her hazel ones, willing her to answer him. And, of course, she complied.

"I'm afraid because I don't want to be hurt again. Every friend I ever had turned on me and left me behind. Even now, the friends that I _do_ have aren't really my friends. It's kinda like I don't really exist to them, like I could not be there and they wouldn't even notice. I don't want to be turned on again…" She paused for a moment then continued. "But it doesn't matter anyway. In a year, I'll be at college in a year and I'll probably never see any of 'em again."

"There's more to it than that," Hiei said knowingly.

"Yes, there is! But you're not gonna hear it!" she spat at him, her accent coming back at full blast because of her anger.

Kelly closed her eyes in an attempt to calm down. Hiei was the last person she wanted to argue with. Not only that, but he was only trying to help her. He didn't deserve her anger.

She felt two fingers left her chin. Her eyes flew open to see Hiei standing in front of her. He had left his fingers below her chin to prevent her looking downwards again. Kelly became nervous under his intense gaze and to his touch.

"Before you face any demons that threaten you," he said to her in a low voice, "you must first learn to face your own inner demons."

And with that, he was gone, as if he had never been there to begin with. The only proof that Kelly had that he had been there was the warm spot on her chin where Hiei had placed his fingers, and the hard time she was having breathing.

She lay back on her bed, placed her earphones back in her ears and played her music. She turned her conversation over and over again in her mind. When she had finished, the only thing she could think was, why did he even care?

* * *

Hiei sat in a tree just outside of Kelly's room wondering the exact same thing. Why _did_ he care? What made him say all those things to her? It made no sense.

Perhaps it was because Hiei saw a bit of himself in her. In very subtle ways, she was like he had been before he had met Yusuke, before Mukuro. Kelly didn't believe in things such as friendship. She had been betrayed by the very people who should have loved and supported her, just as he had when he was born, only hers was less dramatic.

Or perhaps it was for the same reason he had helped Mukuro. It was along the same lines as the first reason, but it was more he had felt compelled to help her. Mukuro and Kelly were two completely different people with two different attitudes and backgrounds, and yet Hiei saw some of Mukuro in the girl. She too, was shackled to her past, unable to leave it behind.

Then there was the fact that the former demon lord had changed him in so many ways. It seemed that now, he wanted to help change someone else, almost as if to keep the process going. Then again, maybe he just felt like it. He didn't have to have a reason did he? He was Hiei after all; he didn't need a reason for everything he did.

However, none of those explanations explained what he felt. When he looked at her, he felt strange. There was the admiration for her strength, of course, but the feeling ran deeper than that.

During Hiei's three days at Genkai's, he found himself watching the new girl. He wasn't even sure why he did so. What was even stranger was the fact that when Kelly found him looking at her, he didn't look away. He just kept on looking, waiting for her to tell him to stop. She never did. She would merely smile calmly at him and then look away and go back to whatever it was she had been doing before she caught his eye.

Hiei let out a huff of frustration. What did it matter to him anyway?

* * *

like it? you all finally get to see some of what has been going through Hiei's head since hes met Kelly... hope you all liked it and agree with the whole Mukuro part... i threw that in last minute... it wasnt in the original writing of it but i felt i needed more explanation for Hiei cause we never did get to see much of how Mukuro had changed him in the anime so i threw that in to make it sound better


	14. Cracking the Shell

okay another chapter with a song in it, please forgive me if you're not a fan of songfics...

**disclaimer: **i dont own Yu Yu Hakusho and its characters nor do i own the lyrics to Don't Stop Believin'

* * *

Facing Your Inner Demons

Ch 14: Cracking the Shell

Kelly barely slept that night. So many thoughts ran through her head which made it impossible to sleep. When she did occasionally doze off, she would wake up moments later, having been attacked by Inoji in another nightmare.

She eventually gave up on trying to fall asleep when she saw the sun peeking through her window. She got out of bed and went to take a shower in the bathroom that was attached to her bedroom. When she got out, she fixed her hair and dressed in the outfit that she had worn when she was kidnapped: a pair of dark blue jeans, purple socks, a green t-shirt with the Beatle's Abbey Road cover printed in black on it, and a black pair of sneakers.

The clothes had been in the pull-string bag that Kuwabara had brought back along with her. Botan had been kind enough to have someone mend and wash the clothes for her so that she could keep them.

The bag itself had been brought to Kelly by Inoji. After Kelly had been in the palace for three days he had gone back to the Human World and to the girl's house to get a few things for her. He realized that he would need to keep her occupied at times and keep her _somewhat_ happy if he were to get anywhere with her training. He had learned that she could be very stubborn when she wanted to be and beating her did nothing. So, at her request, he had gone and gotten the bag, her iPod, a book or two, and a few hand-held video games along with the system to play them on. These all came in handy at Genkai's as well when Kelly got bored or when nobody was around. They all had lives of their own after all.

When she finished getting dressed, she made her way to the kitchen in search of some cereal. She literally had to search because Yusuke and the others had hid anything with a lot of sugar in it. They had discovered that Kelly had a _huge_ sweet-tooth. Anything with sugar was not safe from her.

She kicked off her shoes, sending them flying into a corner of the room and then used her socks to slide across the room in time with the music playing in her ears. She smiled as one of her favorite songs came on and she started to sing, all the while still looking for some cereal.

"Just a small town girl, livin' in a lonely world  
She took the midnight train goin' anywhere  
Just a city boy, born and raised in South Detroit  
He took the midnight train goin' anywhere"

She started to dance and spin as her feet glided along the wooden floor.

Her singing had attracted the attention of the rest of the people in the household. Yusuke, Hiei, and Kurama stood in one doorway to the kitchen, while Kuwabara, Keiko, Yukina, and Genkai stood at the other doorway. They watched as she twirled around, avoiding the table and counter-tops as she went along, dancing to the music that only she could hear.

In what seemed like a moment, however, music could be heard filling the room. The music seemed to radiate from Kelly herself, just as it had the time that Hiei had been in her head.

"A singer in a smokey room  
A smell of wine and cheap perfume  
For a smile they can share the night  
It goes on and on and on and on

Strangers waiting, up and down the boulevard  
Their shadows searching in the night  
Streetlight people, living just to find emotion  
Hiding, somewhere in the night

Working hard to get my fill,  
Everybody wants a thrill  
Payin' anything to roll the dice,  
Just one more time  
Some will win, some will lose  
Some were born to sing the blues  
Oh, the movie never ends  
It goes on and on and on and on.

Strangers waiting, up and down the boulevard  
Their shadows searching in the night  
Streetlight people, living just to find emotion  
Hiding, somewhere in the night

Don't stop believin'  
Hold on to the feelin'  
Streetlight people ooooOOOhh!" she sang, holding a stress on the last note. Her voice was perfect as she lifted the note higher.

She repeated the chorus a few more times, dancing and twirling all the while until eventually she stopped and the music faded. Her head snapped up in attention when she heard people clapping.

Everyone but Hiei were clapping, and in Keiko's and Yukina's cases, cheering.

Kelly's eyes widened as she said, "Oh my gosh! I didn't see any of you! I thought you were all sleepin'!"

"As if we can sleep with all your noise," Yusuke said, smiling.

Kelly then noted that several of them were still in their night clothes, hair unkempt. She blushed, embarrassed not only that they had caught her, but also at the fact that she had woken them up.

"I'm sorry," she said with a sheepish smile.

"Don't worry about it," Keiko said, walking to the refrigerator. "It was a nice way to wake up." She smiled at Kelly who returned the smile eagerly.

"Keiko is right," Kurama said as he sat down at the table. "Besides, we all needed to wake up early anyway. Koenma will be here in about two hours. We will be going to see you off."

"Oh, mmkay. Guess I should pursue a career as an alarm clock then," she said. She chuckled at her lame joke, knowing that no one else would, so why shouldn't she? Then she continued to look for her cereal, avoiding the others as they prepared their own breakfast.

Eventually, Kelly's patience wore thin.

"Where the _hell_ is my cereal?" she asked loudly.

"Kelly, you don't want your parents to deal with you hyper on your first day back, do you?" Kurama asked with a small smile on his face. He and everyone else besides Hiei had settled in at the table to eat. Hiei was nowhere to be seen.

She rolled her eyes. "Well, they've done pretty well for the past seventeen years. So I'm pretty sure they'll be fine today," she retorted. She smiled and continued, "They'll be _so_ happy to see their dear daughter again that they won't even notice."

Yusuke snorted and said, "You must be talking about your sister. There's nothing _dear_ about you."

Kelly smiled sweetly, but her eyes flashed dangerously as she said, "Keep talkin' that way, Yusuke, and you'll soon find that you won't be able to talk period."

Yusuke chuckled and then reached above the refrigerator where he was standing. He pulled down a box of cereal and threw it at Kelly. She caught it with a smile and a thank you and sat down to eat her chocolate cereal.

Eventually, everyone had gotten up to get ready. Kelly was the only one left. She sat and stared at her empty cereal bowl. Her left hand tapped the table in time to whatever song was playing and hummed quietly to herself.

"Kelly, we're going to leave soon. Are you ready?" asked Kurama as he walked into the room.

Kelly looked up him. "Yeah, I'm ready."

"Are you okay?" Kurama asked. He went and sat down across the table from Kelly and looked over at her.

"I'm fine. Don't worry, Kurama. I wouldn't want to be the cause of any worry lines marring your pretty boy face," she said with a smile.

Kurama grimaced. She loved to make fun of what she called his "perfect face". After sighing he asked in a gentler voice, "What's wrong, Kelly?"

Kelly looked down at her empty bowl again.

"I'm a half-demon. They're all human. Inoji told me I'll probably live much longer than a normal human. I'm gonna watch as my family dies. Not only that, but… what if I mess up? What if I accidentally hurt one of them? They're everything to me…" she told him in a weak voice.

She looked up when she felt a hand covering her own. Kurama looked at her with understanding eyes.

"Yes, they may all die, but they will always accept you for who you are. They love you. That will never change. No matter what happens, no matter what mistakes you make, they will always love you. And you will never be alone. Hiei, Koenma, Botan, Yukina, and maybe even Yusuke and I as well will live just as long as you will. Some of us will most likely live longer than you. We will _always_ be there for you," Kurama told her.

And with that, Kelly's shell cracked. It didn't fully break, but there was a huge crack in it. She believed him. Once again, she didn't want to, but she did anyway.

Kurama spoke again. "Whenever you need to see us, all you have to do is take your communicator and call Koenma and ask for a portal and he will easily grant you one. And if you can't leave, then you can always just call to chat."

Kelly's chest tightened and seemed to almost throb. No one had promised to stay with her. No one except her family.

"Thank you, Kurama," Kelly said quietly. Maybe, just maybe, these people could be her friends, and stay that way.

Kurama nodded, seeing that he finally made progress with the seemingly unbreakable girl. He took his hand off Kelly's and stood up.

"You should go grab your bag and meet us out front," he said before he walked out. Kelly nodded.

She made her way to her bedroom for the last time. Her bag lay on her bed and she grabbed it. She was about to walk out when she heard a voice coming from her window.

"So, you listen to the fox, huh?"

She sighed and turned around to face Hiei who once again sat on her window seat.

"Ya know, my windows at home don' have very big window sills. You're not gonna be able to sit on 'em," she informed him in a bored voice.

Hiei didn't respond and waited for an answer to his question.

She sighed again and said, "If you _must_ know, it was because of _both_ of you. If you hadn't spoken to me yesterday, I probably wouldn't have even listened to Kurama. But you got me thinkin', ya know? And then Kurama kinda finished it all."

"Hn. But not all the way. We still have a little more to get through to you," Hiei told her.

Kelly shrugged. "Maybe…"

She again made for the door. Hiei surprised her by following her out and not leaving through the window as he usually did. He followed her all the way to the kitchen and stood at the doorway as she retrieved her shoes from the corner where she had flung them earlier. She put them on and then walked past Hiei, glancing at him as she made her way to the entrance of the temple.

She was slightly nervous with his following her around. In fact she was nervous around him just in general, ever since her realization the night before. But, she didn't think she meant anything by following her. They were going to the same place after all. But having him so close to her made her stomach do flip-flops.

She squinted as she walked out into the sunlight. As her eyes adjusted to the sudden light, she saw that everyone stood around on the wide stretch of pavement that made up Genkai's temple's front entranceway. Koenma and Botan had joined them again. Koenma stood before a blue swirling vortex that Kelly understood to be the portal that would lead her home.

Kelly felt a hand on the small of her back as she stood and looked around.

"Come on, onna. We can't keep you family waiting," Hiei said quietly.

Kelly nodded, but Hiei could tell she was still nervous about returning home. He sighed at her indecisiveness.

"I went with Koenma the other day," he told her. She turned to look at him. "Mukuro asked me to. Your family was very anxious to see you. Even when Koenma told them that you were not fully human anymore, they still wanted you back. There is no need to be nervous."

He placed the hand that was not on her back on her hands. Kelly looked down and noticed that she had been wringing them nervously, a bad habit she had. She blushed slightly, not really sure if it was because she was embarrassed or because both of Hiei's hands were touching her.

Hiei withdrew his hands from her and started to walk forward. Kelly quickly caught up.

"You're getting better," he said, not looking at her.

"What?" she asked.

"Before, if anyone so much as tapped you, you would jump through the roof."

"Oh," Kelly said, surprised. "Yeah, I guess I am better. I don't feel afraid around you guys."

Hiei nodded but still did not look at her.

They were approaching the others now. Koenma looked over and motioned for the two to come over to him.

"Your parents are waiting for you," he said to Kelly as she and Hiei came to a stop beside him. "Are you ready?"

Kelly nodded, unable to speak.

"Okay. Now, we can't just pop out in front of your house. People will notice. We've chosen a secluded area down the road from your house," he explained to her.

"Okay," Kelly said quietly.

Koenma held his arm out, letting her step in front of him. She slowly put her hand out and found it disappearing in the blue swirls. She took a deep breath and stepped in.

She was immediately brought to a small area surrounded by tall trees. In front and down a small hill was the street her house was on. Behind her was a building that served as the office for a funeral home. She stepped forward, taking in the familiar scenery and remembering everything around her. There was the office building she had to walk behind to get to work everyday, and there was the house that had served as shelter to at least five different families over the many years she had lived here.

"Don't go too far, onna. We're all going at once," Hiei said from behind her.

When she turned around to look at him, he was shocked to see that her eyes were filled with tears, threatening to spill over.

"What…?" Hiei started to ask as he stepped toward Kelly.

To his surprise, she smiled. It wasn't even a forced smile, like so many of the other smiles Hiei had seen on her. In the back of his head he found that he liked her real smile. It lit up her face and eyes. She should smile like that more often.

"I'm home," she said.

* * *

okay so the song was put in mainly for the whole dont stop believin part... Kelly really needed that... it was kinda the main focus of this chapter. would her family still accept her? so i threw in the dont stop believin song in the begining to show how that was what she needed to do get it? of course you do hehe


	15. Coming Home

alright this is for Shadow Sprit who absically demanded another chapter lol but that makes me happy so... here it is! actually im dishing out two chapters because this one is short and i love chapter 16... so here you go!

* * *

Facing Your Inner Demons

Ch 14: Coming Home

Kelly slowly walked down the edge of the hill and jumped before she got to the bottom, the soles of her sneaks hitting the sidewalk with a slap. The others followed quietly behind her.

She walked up to a sign that read "RIGHT LANE MUST TURN RIGHT" and slapped the corner of it causing a loud noise to reverberate off of it.

"Sorry," she said to the others with a smile. They had all come through the portal shortly after Hiei had. "I used to hit this sign everyday as I walked home from school." She pointed to the large building that stood across the four lane highway at the end of the street. "It kinda just became a habit, ya know?"

Nobody said anything because they _didn't_ know. They didn't understand why it was important to hit a sign. But to Kelly, it meant everything. She wanted to be human again, and doing things that she always used to do made things easier.

She began to walk up the street and eventually came to a four way intersection. She crossed diagonally, making her way to the other side, but staying on the same street. The others followed quietly behind her.

Looking down her street, she noticed news vans sitting outside of her house. She blinked then turned to Koenma.

"I'm sorry," he said with an apologetic look on his face. "I couldn't keep them away. I've already informed them that we are the 'special police force' that found you in Japan. Inoji brought you there and kept you in his basement. We found you. That's all you need to know."

Kelly nodded and then continued walking. Now that she noticed, everyone but Hiei was wearing normal clothes for a change. Hiei would most likely stay away from the cameras anyway.

Right on cue, Hiei disappeared from Kelly's sight. She could feel his energy to her right, the side that her house was on.

Everyone continued to walk until finally the reporters saw them approaching. They immediately ran towards the approaching crowd, determined to get the scoop on the damsel and her rescuers.

"Kelly! Kelly, can you tell us…"

Shouts issued from their mouths as they crowded around Kelly. The cameras all struggled for a shot of her while all the reporters jostled each other in an attempt to get their microphones closer to her.

Kelly's eyes widened as she was overwhelmed with shouted questions. Yusuke and Kuwabara struggled to get through the crowd and to Kelly, but to no avail.

Finally, she couldn't take it anymore.

"Piss off people!" she yelled as loud as she could, finally able to use English again.

The reporters were so surprised by her sudden outburst that they immediately stopped yelling. Kelly took advantage of this and pushed through everyone blocking her. When she made it out, she made a bee-line to her drive way. She stopped dead about five feet up the driveway and looked at the patio in front of her house.

There stood her family. Her mom, dad, grandmother, two brothers, and sister all stood gazing at her.

"Kelly…" her mother said as she took a step forward. Tears streaked down her face.

"Mom!" Kelly shouted. She ran forward to meet her family and was immediately hidden within the mass of bodies that all tried to hug a part of Kelly's body.

She was eventually ushered inside the house where she and her family could get away from the reporters. Hiei was already there, pulling her hand to get her in faster. The rest of her rescuers and their companions quickly followed her family in. Kurama was the last one in and so he shut the door quickly and locked it behind him.

"Well, that was a bowlful of crazyment, now wasn't it?" Kelly said with a laugh. She was speaking English again for the benefit of her family.

Hiei shook his head. "You make up the most ridiculous words," he told her.

"Yeah… but that's just one of the beautiful qualities that defines me," she said with a huge smile on her face again.

Hiei's chest seemed to squeeze at her smile. She really was beautiful when she smiled like that. He immediately banished the thought from his head. He couldn't even believe that he had thought it in the first place.

He watched her as she went back to her family. She was so _happy_. He had never seen her truly happy before, and he was sure the others hadn't seen her this way either. When he had come to meet her family with Koenma, he was surprised to see such devotion in them. They were willing to accept Kelly no matter what she was like. That was what Kelly needed it seemed. Acceptance.

Hiei smiled ever so slightly as he continued to watch her with the people that made her happy. Hopefully, no one would notice the new feature that graced his lips.


	16. Alone

here's the next chapter ejoy!

Facing Your Inner Demons

Ch 16: Alone

Koenma returned to his job the same night that Kelly had finally gone home. Yusuke, Keiko, Yukina, Kurama, Kuwabara and Genkai stayed at a small hotel within walking distance of Kelly's house. They walked to her house everyday for a week to help her transition better. It was unnecessary, however, she was doing just fine.

Hiei was never far behind. He slept in the tall tree in Kelly's front yard, just as he had said he would. Kelly's family was hesitant around Hiei and uneasy at first. He followed Kelly everywhere, mainly just because he enjoyed her company in the unfamiliar territory, and when she wanted privacy, he would wait for her. At night, Hiei would disappear to keep watch outside; demons would have the advantage after nightfall. Eventually though, the family got used to Hiei's constant presence.

The only time Kelly's new companions were not around was when the rest of her family came over. She had a huge family; aunts and uncles poured into her house to see their niece and along with them came her numerous cousins and second cousins.

Kelly was glad to see them all again, kind of. She had never really liked most of her family. They were too judgmental and they looked down on her mother and father. Just another reason for her trust issues. If people turned on their own flesh and blood, then it just meant the same for everyone else. But, they were still her family, after all, and she was happy to see them.

After all the hype of Kelly's return, things returned to normal. Yusuke and the others returned to Japan, and Kelly returned to school. Her "friends" were happy to see her as were many other people in her grade that she knew and talked to.

Hiei was surprised to see that Kelly was actually very popular. Her grade was small for a high school class; there were only about two hundred-thirty students in her Junior year class, but more than half of them knew Kelly and were happy to see her again.

However, Hiei could see that Kelly was uncomfortable around everyone. Once again, she put on a brave and happy face and acted as if nothing was wrong. But Hiei knew better.

The story around school was the same that Koenma had given the reporters. However, that didn't explain Kelly's hair. Nobody had blonde hair with violet streaks going through it, and her school did not allow for unnatural hair coloring. She and her parents lied and said that Japan had some new hair dye that, when placed directly on the scalp, made the hair color permanent. It was a completely bogus excuse, but nobody questioned them. Kelly had been through enough already.

On the night that Kelly had returned to school, she started something that would occur more and more often.

At around eleven o'clock when the rest of her family had gone to bed, Kelly climbed down from her bed. She shared a bedroom with her sister and slept on the top of the bunk bed that they shared. She checked to make sure that the younger girl was asleep and then opened her window. Outside her window was a roof that jutted out where the garage had once been. The garage had been redone into a dining room when she was only six, and now the roof came out about four feet, just enough room for someone to sit on.

Kelly crawled out onto the roof and shut the screen of the window behind her. She pulled her iPod out of her basketball shorts that she always wore to bed and turned it on. She lay down, placing her arms behind her head and looked up to watch the stars gleam.

Right on cue, Hiei appeared out of nowhere right next to her. His eyes shone a bright red in the moonlight as he looked down at her.

"Heyo," she said with a small smile.

"What are you doing, onna?" he asked angrily. "Your coming out here is dangerous!"

Kelly shrugged. "Yeah, but I'm with _you_ here, aren't I?"

"It still makes my job harder!" he retorted. Inside, however, he felt a strange emotion within him that he had never experienced before. She felt safe with him. Usually, girls avoided him and the cold glare he gave them.

"I bet you can handle it," she said with another smile, this one was sweeter, but in a devilish way.

Hiei grunted in frustration, but didn't say anything else. Instead, he sat down and leaned against the front of Kelly's house beside the window.

"Hey, Hiei? Can I ask a question?" Kelly turned slightly to see his face. Red eyes met hers and Kelly took that as a go ahead.

"Do you have a best friend?"

Hiei was taken aback by the abrupt question.

"A best friend?"

"Yeah, a best friend. Someone who's a friend, ya know, but goes above being a friend. They're the friend you like the most, the friend who's there when no other friend is. The one who cheers you up, calms you down, comforts you," she informed him.

Hiei didn't know the answer to this question. Not only was it random, but it was something that he had never thought about. He considered Yusuke and Kurama friends. Kuwabara was… close, maybe on a good day Hiei would consider him a friend. The others were not friends, but he could tolerate to be in their presence. And Mukuro, well that was a whole different story.

"No," he finally answered her.

Kelly nodded. She had expected this answer.

"So, you're alone all the time?"

He was again dumbfounded. Why was she asking him about this?

"What does it matter?" he asked harshly.

Kelly didn't even flinch at his voice. This was another thing that intrigued him. No matter what he said or how he said it, she never seemed fazed.

"I was just curious honestly. I mean, everyone has at least _one_ person who is always there for them. I have my fam'ly and my best friend," Kelly told him.

"_Your_ best friend?" Hiei asked in surprise. Kelly was so hesitant on the subject of friends that Hiei had never thought that she would have someone so close to herself.

Kelly smiled in understanding.

"Yeah. She's the only one who's been there for me since, like forever ago. Those pictures of the two little girls in my room are of me and her when we were younger. My mom was friends with her mom and so my mom used to babysit for her all the time until we started grade school." Kelly smiled again and continued. "We never went to the same school. We still don't. In fact, we rarely see each other. And yet, we still consider each other best friends. We're perfect for each other, if you can understand that in a non-gay way." She laughed slightly.

Hiei nodded. In a way, he did understand.

"You don't have any fam'ly, do ya?" Kelly asked.

Hiei looked at her. Should he tell her? He knew she wouldn't tell anyone, but she barely knew her. But if that was true, why was he so drawn to her?

"I have a twin sister," he finally said.

She raised her eyebrows but did not show her surprise in any other way. "No shit? For realz?"

Hiei rolled his eyes. "Americans and their stupid speech."

"Don't avoid the question," Kelly said stubbornly.

"Hn. Yes, 'for real'," he said. He studied Kelly for a moment and thought. And then he did something he never thought he would. He told her everything. He told her how he was born of an ice maiden, how his people had out casted him and how he had gone back to get revenge but ended up leaving without a single person dying. He even showed her the two tear gems that hung around his neck.

In a way, he felt relieved to let another person know about his past. When he had submitted his consciousness to Mukuro he had actually felt… good, as if he had been waiting to do that his whole life. But now, it was more that we wanted to, he wanted to let this girl in, wanted her to understand. The old him would never had done that, but Mukuro and now this girl too had changed him.

Kelly held the two gems in her hand. She inspected them carefully and then looked up at Hiei.

"Your sister…Yukina?"

"Yes."

Kelly nodded. "I would have never known had you not told me your background…" She trailed off and then went back to looking at the gems. They gave her a sense of peace that she had never felt before.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly.

"What?"

She looked up at him with a sad expression on her face.

"I'm sorry. You've… you've lived your whole life alone, trying each moment just to survive. And here I've been, mopin' around because of something that lasted for less than a month. And I act all weird about stupid stuff and you've been through so much more," she told him.

Hiei was taken aback by her concern for him. He had discovered that she was uncommonly kind, sometimes to a fault. But this was different. She was sorry because she felt that _she_ had done something wrong.

"Don't be sorry, onna. Especially not for the reason you're giving. You've done nothing wrong," he told her gently.

Kelly nodded, but still looked upset.

"Well, anyways, I better get ta bed. 'Night, Hiei. Thanks for talkin' to me," Kelly said as she handed Hiei back his tear gems.

He took them and nodded. He stood up and watched as she opened the screen to her window and poked her feet through. Before she went all the way through, she turned to him.

"I know my opinion won't matter much to you, but I think that you should tell Yukina that you're her brother. I think that would make her happy. She'd prob'ly be proud to be your sister," she said.

And with that she fully entered her room and shut and locked her window behind her. She waved to Hiei, then pulled down her shade and disappeared from his sight.

She thought that Yukina would be proud to have him as a brother. Hiei thought that this was the most ironic thing he had ever heard. He shook his head then leapt off the small roof and landed on a branch of the tree in the front yard and settled in for sleep, thinking of everything she had said to him that night.


	17. Following Emotions

okay i know the last two chapters werent the greatest, but this chapter is my second favorite, yes its only my second fave, my first isnt for a little while... but i think everyone will really like this one!

oh yeah i forgot to say last chapter that the whole best friend of Kelly's is important way later on... the best friend is i mean she will make an appearance and she will be important... i more ways than just as Kelly's best friend... ill leave you all to interpret that

* * *

Facing Your Inner Demons

Ch 17: Following Emotions

Kelly was constantly busy with make up work for school. Her stress level was getting higher everyday, but she was laid back and lazy and so she usually just blew everything off. When the stress _did_ get to her, she would go out onto the roof at night. Hiei would always appear beside her and sit down. They didn't always talk, they didn't need to. Sometimes, Kelly would just watch the stars and Hiei would watch her. Talking wasn't necessary; both were comfortable with the silence.

One night he asked her, "Why are you so amazed with the stars? They are nothing more than suns in distant galaxies."

Kelly looked over at him. "But that's what amazes me," she told him. "Those stars are billions of light years away and yet they're still visible to the human eye. Not only that, but what you're seein' happened billions of years ago. For all we know, those stars might not even _be_ there now. They could have exploded. And, as if those weren't enough reasons, there are so many stars that one human lifetime isn't enough time to count all of 'em. I doubt that most demons have been able to count 'em all."

Once again, Hiei found that he didn't know how to respond to her answer. He was amazed by the simplest things she did, and one of those things was that she could cause him to be dumbfounded.

Kelly smiled and looked back to the sky.

"When you live in a rottin' hell-hole such as the human world, and more specifically America, you find yourself bein' amazed and amused by the smallest and stupidest things," she said sadly, though she still smiled. "It's just a way to deal with all the crappiness."

Hiei always remembered those words and he discovered that Kelly seemed to live by them.

He followed her to school everyday, mainly because he had too. He honestly had no desire to sit and listen to the ningens drone on and on about things he would never need in the Makai. So he would sit in a tree outside and was always careful to make sure that nobody saw him. Kelly always knew he was there and with her heightened senses, she could sometimes catch glimpses of him as she walked through the hallways. He pounced from tree to tree and as he landed on one, she was able to see him.

It was calming, in a way, to see him. She felt safe and happy knowing that he was there. Sometimes, if a lesson was particularly boring, she would have conversations with him using his telepathy. She usually carried the conversation, but on a good day she could get him to tell her about some of his fights, or about something in Mukuro's lands before the demon tournament.

It was at school that she generally lived by the rule she taught Hiei. She would laugh at anything, even if it wasn't exceptionally funny. Hiei had originally thought that she was just being a "baka onna", like most of the other female ningen. But now he understood.

More and more Hiei found that he was attached to the girl, liked her even. It wasn't like him to be this way, but ever since his match with Mukuro and their conversation during the fight, he had found that he had changed. But he was still unsure. What was this girl to him?

* * *

Time flew by and Kelly found herself at the week of her final exams which would end with her taking the SATs. The stress just ate at her and so she climbed out onto the roof basically every night that week. On the night before her SATs, it was Hiei who broke the silence.

"Who is Paul?" he asked.

Kelly blinked in surprise and turned to look at him. He looked straight ahead, refusing to look at her.

"What?" she asked.

Hiei still did not look at her as he said, "I overheard your 'friends' saying that _Paul_ had been very worried for you. Who is he?"

"Paul… is this guy in my grade," she said. "I used to work with him too before Inoji kidnapped me." Hiei nodded. Kelly had quit her work after returning. She wouldn't have time to work with all of her school work that she had to make up and then during the summer there was her training.

"I had a crush on him," she continued. "A big one. Everyone in my grade thought that we would end up going out. But he ended up bein' a total jerk. My friends still think that we would make a cute couple though. I keep tellin' 'em that I have no int'rest in the asshole anymore but…" she rolled her eyes.

Hiei nodded, satisfied.

"Why'd ya wanna know?"

Hiei froze. He was afraid that she would ask this. The truth was that he was jealous. He knew he shouldn't be; there really was no reason at all for him to be. But the feeling bubbled up in the pit of his stomach. His face betrayed his effort to hide the discomfort caused by her question.

Kelly laughed and said, "You don't have to answer if you don't wanna."

He nodded and calmed down

"I've had loads of crushes," Kelly informed him, "But never once have any of them amounted to anything. I'm seventeen and I've yet to get a boyfriend. I've never even been kissed. Pathetic, huh?"

She sat up and looked at Hiei and awaited his answer.

He shrugged and said, "I wouldn't know. It's different in the Demon World."

"How so?" she asked as she cocked her head to the side.

He looked to the stars and said, "Demons do not have 'boyfriends' or 'girlfriends' and only on rare occasions to they have husbands and wives." The thought of King Enki and his wife came to his mind and he smirked. "Demons generally have mates. There is still love there, but there is also more possessiveness involved. Mates belong to each other. There is no such thing as 'divorce' between mates. They never need it either. Mates are eternally bonded forever. There is no bond deeper than the one between mates."

Kelly smiled. "That's… I don' even know a word for it. I guess beautiful would suffice…" She sighed and continued. "Humans need something like that. We're falling apart."

Hiei looked over at her again. Kelly turned and red eyes met hazel ones. He couldn't help but think that she looked beautiful in the moonlight, her hair softly blowing in the wind. For once, he did not banish the thought. He embraced it.

"What about me?" Kelly asked, piercing through his thoughts. "Do you think that, should I choose to go that way, I could have a mate?"

"I don't know," Hiei answered. "Inoji is probably the only one who knows the answer to that and he's dead. But I would think so. You only have to leave your mark on your mate. I guess you have that ability."

"My mark." Kelly nodded and blushed slightly, understanding the full implications of what Hiei had just said. "What about you? Do you have a mate? I mean, you and Mukuro seemed awfully close."

"No," Hiei said, slightly amused. "Mukuro is not my mate, nor do I have one. Mukuro is the one who made me understand myself. Made me understand that maybe, one day, I would like to have a mate."

Hiei couldn't believe that he was saying this out loud to the girl. She always made him say things he didn't want to.

Kelly nodded, her gaze never leaving his.

Suddenly the wind picked up and Kelly's hair blew everywhere.

"Oh!" she cried. She desperately tried to control her hair. As the wind blew down, her hair came to a rest. Kelly brushed it through with her fingers.

"Here, onna," Hiei said with a small chuckle. He reached out and curled a stray lock of hair behind her ear. His fingers brushed her cheek and Kelly froze.

Red eyes met hazel eyes for the second time that night. Kelly's face flushed with red, but she did not pull away. Taking advantage of that fact, Hiei trailed his fingers down her cheek and across her jawbone. He could hear her ragged intake of air as she struggled to breathe.

He was overwhelmed with the unfamiliar emotion that was flooding him. Never before had a female affected him in the way that she did. She was so _different_, so original. She wasn't like any other female human or demon that he had met before. Hiei realized that he was slowly, but surely, falling for the half demon onna.

He didn't know what to think about that, nor did he want to. All he wanted to do was press his lips to hers. And so, he did.

Kelly's eyes widened as Hiei's hand moved from her cheek to the back of her neck and he placed his lips gently over hers. Her first kiss. She felt Hiei's other hand on her waist as he slowly moved it over so that his arm held her waist.

She struggled to form coherent thoughts. Finally one thought could be heard above the roar in her mind. Kiss him back! Who was she to argue?

When Hiei felt her kissing him back, a jolt of electricity seemed to run through him. He used his hands to bring her closer to him and deepened the kiss.

Kelly slowly ran her hands up Hiei's arms, over his shoulders, and rested them behind his neck where she dug her fingers into his hair. She reveled in the feel of it, how surprisingly soft and good it felt in her fingers.

And then, all too soon, it was over. They broke the kiss in need of air.

With the flow of oxygen returning to Kelly's brain and the dizziness wearing down, reality set in.

"Oh, my gosh," she whispered. She quickly turned to her window and threw up the screen.

"Onna?" Hiei asked in surprise.

"I'm sorry, Hiei. I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have… I mean, you're gonna… I'm so sorry," she blabbered as she climbed through her window. She shut it quickly and pulled the shade down.

Hiei didn't even know how to react. They had just kissed and then she ran away. It didn't make any sense. How could he have kissed her in the first place? How could he come to the conclusion that he was falling for her? _None_ of it made any sense.

* * *

and now, you're all probably ready to kill me cause i broke it off too soon lol. but we're dealing with two people who have trust issues here... especially with the situation they are in right now... but i really wanted Hiei to be the one to make the first move it just seemed more Hiei you know? lol always the dominant one!


	18. Going Back In More Ways Than One

so, because i really was threatened to be killed, i present the next chapter! lol enjoy!

* * *

Facing Your Inner Demons

Ch 18: Going Back (in More Ways Than One)

Kelly avoided Hiei the whole next day and throughout the rest of the week; well she avoided him as best she could in a small house with her being the only ties Hiei had to the demon world. She remained silent and removed. Hiei was convinced that she was mad at him, and she was, but she was also mad at herself.

Kelly had officially graduated her Junior year at this point. She was a senior now. To tell the truth, she was terrified. She didn't want to go off to college. She wasn't ready and it didn't help that she would be away from all the people who knew about what she really was.

She spent the first few days of her vacation catching up on much deserved sleep. She was exhausted from school. But nothing good lasts forever.

It was two in the afternoon on a sunny June day. Wind gently blew through Kelly's opened window. She still slept peacefully and Hiei kept watch outside.

A loud ringing noise issued from the shelf above Kelly's bed. She immediately sat up, eyes wide. She turned around and grabbed the pink communicator off of a shelf behind her and opened it.

"Damn it! Whoever this is better have a _real good_ _reason_ for wakin' me up!" she growled into the communicator.

"Kelly, it's two in the afternoon where you are, isn't it?" Kurama replied, his face on the screen showing amusement.

Kelly took a deep breath and looked at the communicator screen. "And it's also my summer vacation! I sleep very late and stay up very late! I'm tired Kurama. Wattya want already?"

Kurama chuckled and said, "Koenma asked me to call in his stead. You need to continue your training now."

Kelly flopped back down onto her pillow and looked beside her, unsurprised to find Hiei standing below her bed.

"Uugg. Here. Talk to Hiei," she said groggily.

Before Kurama could object, she had tossed the communicator to Hiei. He caught it and looked back at her. She had already turned to the other side in an attempt to fall back to sleep.

He turned to the communicator and said, "I apologize for the onna's rudeness. She's not especially pleasant when someone wakes her up."

He heard a mumbled "Fuck off" come from Kelly. He chuckled slightly then turned back to Kurama.

"You were saying?"

Kurama gave a small smile then said, "Koenma is going to send a portal in one week. Tell Kelly she should pack a bag with clothes and such. We'll be training at Genkai's mostly, but I believe Koenma has been contemplating on whether or not to send us to the Makai. It would be dangerous, but it would give Kelly a better fighting experience, but Koenma's very hesitant on the subject."

Hiei nodded. "She's going to want to come home sometimes," he told Kurama with a glance over at Kelly's back.

"Yes, Koenma had already thought of that," Kurama said with a nod. "He is willing to provide portals for her to visit."

Hiei nodded again. "We'll be ready then."

"Right. See you then," Kurama said with a wave. The screen then went blank.

Hiei shut the communicator and threw it towards Kelly's bed where it landed on her side. She reached over, grabbed it, and placed it back on her shelf. She never turned over, never acknowledged Hiei in any way.

"You cannot ignore me forever, onna," Hiei said quietly.

Kelly took a deep breath and then slowly breathed out.

"No, but I can certainly try," she said tiredly.

Hiei quickly grew frustrated. "Onna, you have no reason to be mad at me! You kissed me back!" he hissed, careful not to be too loud. He didn't want to draw the attention of her family.

Kelly rolled over to look at him.

"No reason?!" she spat angrily at him. "You kissed me! Givin' me ideas. As if I mean somethin' to ya! But, just like everyone else, you'll just leave in the end! You have no reason to stay! Once your record is cleared, you'll be outta here. When that happens…" Kelly shook her head. "If I had let that go further, who knows what we'd be doin' now! And then, when you left, I'd never be able to take it." She buried her head into her pillow.

So _that's_ what it was. Hiei understood now. Especially since it was the truth. He had no intention of staying in the Ningenkai when this was all over. He would go back to the Makai and return to the border patrol. He was attached to the girl, that was for certain, but she was just a girl. He knew he was falling for her, but that could be taken care of.

When Hiei did not argue her point, Kelly rolled back over onto her side, refusing to look at him. "See?" she said.

Kelly waited a moment and then felt his presence outside, back in the tree. And then, she did something she had not done since the first day she had awoken at Inoji's palace, and before that, well she didn't even know when. She started to sob. The tears just flowed down her cheeks and no matter how much she tried, she couldn't make them stop.

It hurt like hell.

Hiei overheard her sobs floating from her window, but he refused to be affected by them. Instead, he drowned them out with plans for training.

But deep down, he was hurting like hell too.

* * *

The day arrived when Kelly and Hiei were to return to Genkai's temple. The two, along with the rest of Kelly's family had walked to the hill where Kelly had first arrived back home only two months earlier.

They waited a little until the portal finally arrived and Yusuke stepped out, followed by Botan.

"Hey there, Kelz," Yusuke said in English to be polite to Kelly's family.

Kelly smirked. "Hey, Zuko."

Chuckles came form Kelly's parents. She turned to look at them.

"As in Danny Zuko from Grease?" her mother asked.

Kelly smiled and nodded. Her parents laughed again.

"Aagg, seriously now, who is Danny Zuko?" Yusuke asked angrily.

"No one of concern," Kelly said in a sweet voice. She turned to Botan. "Hi, Botan."

Botan surprised her with a huge hug. "Kelly! I've missed you so much!"

Kelly quickly got over the shock (she wasn't much for hugs and such) and lightly hugged the ferry girl back. "Yeah, I've missed you too."

Botan let go and said, "So, are you all set?"

"Yuppers," Kelly said with a smile. Yusuke snickered at her choice of words, but stopped when Kelly glared at him.

She walked back to her family and said good-bye to everyone, giving a light hug to each person there. She promised to visit and call often (and even grudgingly promised to not eat too much sugar). It was hard to walk away, but she forced herself to. She stood in front of the portal and took one last look at her family and then stepped through.

* * *

hehe sorry no make up yet! but dont worry, it's coming i promise so please, i like living a whole lot ;)


	19. The Coming Sunset

okay another songfic! this one has more to do with the situation than the other two in my opinion... enjoy!

**disclaimer:** i dont own yu yu hakusho or the lyrics to I Miss You by blink-182

* * *

Facing Your Inner Demons

Ch 19: The Coming Sunset

As soon as Kelly was completely through the portal, she was thrown sideways. The duffle bag she had brought was flung off her and landed somewhere behind her.

"Kelly!" a male and female voice yelled.

Kelly looked over at the cause of the collision and saw that both Kuwabara and Keiko had tackled her in a big hug.

"Uh, hey. You guys wanna stop crushin' my lungs now, please?" she managed to choke out. Once again, the Japanese flowed naturally from her lips.

They let go and Kelly was finally able to get up and greet them with a smile.

"How's it been?" Kuwabara asked as Hiei stepped out of the portal.

"It's been good," she said smiling again.

Botan and Yusuke stepped out of the portal then and it disappeared behind them. Genkai stepped forward with Yukina right behind her from the entranceway to the living room. Yukina smiled and waved at Kelly which she returned in earnest

"It's been quiet without you here," Genkai said with a smirk.

"Yeah, well, I can easily take care of that," Kelly said. She went over to her duffle bag, bent down, and unzipped it. She reached in and pulled out what appeared to be a very large digital clock with wide speakers. "I present, my iPod stereo!" she announced proudly. "Now I can play my music out loud for all to appreciate!"

Kurama stood up from the couch he sat on and walked over to Hiei.

"You let her bring that?" he asked.

"Hn. I didn't _watch_ her pack. And even if I did, she wouldn't listen to me," he retorted.

Kelly turned to Kurama and smiled sweetly. "Oh, come _on_, Kurama. You should be glad! Now, I get to widen your range of music!"

Kurama sighed and shook his head. "Well you better go bring your stuff back up to your old room. Hiei, why don't you help her?"

Hiei didn't move and Kelly didn't wait for him. She merely picked up her bag, waved at everyone and walked out of the living room.

"Well," Yusuke said, looking at the doorway, "That wasn't obvious at _all_."

Hiei scowled at Yusuke's sarcasm but didn't say anything. Kurama glanced at him and saw the angry expression on his face.

"What did you do, Hiei?" he asked quietly so that no one else could hear.

-None of your business, fox. - Hiei shot back telepathically.

-Hiei, she wouldn't even _look_ at you. You had to have done something wrong. - Kurama responded, slightly frustrated.

-I didn't say that I didn't do anything wrong. I…I did. – Hiei quietly admitted.

Kurama stole a glance at Hiei who now sat on the windowsill of the large window in the room. Everyone else had gone into the kitchen to prepare dinner.

Kurama was surprised to see that not only was Hiei annoyed, but upset too. Kurama leaned against the wall and asked again, "What did you do, Hiei?"

Hiei sighed but answered the question. "I kissed her." He refused to look at Kurama.

Kurama stared at Hiei, not believing what he had just heard.

"You… kissed… her…" Kurama said slowly, as if trying out the words. Hiei said nothing and so Kurama took this as a confirmation.

So many questions flooded Kurama's mind. Why? Why did he kiss her? Did he like her? Did she like him? What was he thinking? Didn't he know he would hurt her?

"I don't know… I wasn't thinking at all… it just happened," Hiei said, answering Kurama's questions all at once.

Kurama sighed. "Perhaps I should go talk to her," Kurama said quietly. He looked over at Hiei but he still refused to look at Kurama.

Kurama walked out and up the stairs. He made his way to Kelly's room and heard music being blared before he even rounded the corner. This time, however, it was the actual music and not Kelly.

Hello there the angel from my nightmare  
The shadow in background of the morgue  
The unsuspecting victim of darkness in the valley  
We can live like Jack and Sally if we want  
Where you can always find me  
And we'll have Halloween on Christmas  
And in the night we'll wish this never ends  
We'll wish this never ends

Kurama reached the open doorway and leaned on the doorframe and watched Kelly. She had her bag open on her bed and she was pulling clothes and other objects she had brought form home out of it.

The music continued as Kelly tapped her foot and moved around the room in time to the music.

Where are you and I'm so sorry  
I cannot sleep I cannot dream tonight  
I need somebody and always  
This sick strange darkness comes creeping on so haunting every time  
And as I stared I counted the webs from all the spiders  
catching things and eating their insides  
Like indecision to call you  
And hear your voice of treason  
Will you come home and stop this pain tonight  
stop this pain tonight

Don't waste your time on me your already the voice inside my head.  
_I miss you.  
_Don't waste your time on me your already the voice inside my head.  
_I miss you.  
_Don't waste your time on me your already the voice inside my head.  
_I miss you._

Kelly slightly danced to the song as she placed a picture on her bureau. She then placed another one, not in a frame, next to it. She turned back to her bed when she noticed Kurama. She jumped and yelped.

"Kurama! God, just gimme a heart attack why don'cha?" she said angrily.

Kurama chuckled and walked over to her bed where he sat down. "Sorry about that."

Kelly nodded and waited. She knew he hadn't come for small talk.

Kurama sighed and said, "Hiei… told me… about what happened."

He didn't need to be specific. She knew what he meant. She nodded but didn't say anything. She didn't know _what_ to say.

"You have to forgive him at some point, Kel," Kurama told her gently. "He's sorry, but he doesn't know how to tell you."

Kelly walked over to her window seat. She placed her hand on it and sighed. The window seat reminded her of Hiei. Even more so than that, it reminded her of the time she realized she loved him. It was over a couple of months ago, and yet she still thought that it was yesterday… so much had happened.

"I could never stay mad at him for long," she told Kurama quietly. "I never was one to hold a grudge." Which was true, but she meant the first part more than the second.

Kurama walked over to Kelly and placed a hand on her shoulder. She didn't look at him, but instead looked out the window at the sun slowly setting over the horizon. Kelly found peace in the subtle beauty of it. She watched as the red and orange rays of light kissed the sky and the sun soon eventually disappeared altogether.

* * *

i thought that that song was perfect for this chapter. cause of the whole i miss you in between the lines, not up front. Kelly acts like she doesnt care about hiei, but she secretly dying inside because she misses talking to hiei... but i bet you all figured that out for yourself so please forgive my senseless rambling...


	20. Shattering the Shell

Facing Your Inner Demons

Ch 20: Shattering the Shell

Kelly could hardly sleep that night. She felt bad for not telling Kurama the truth. She didn't want to tell him that she loved Hiei. She knew that he would never say anything about it to anyone else, and yet she still couldn't bring herself to open up to him. Then again she had never been good at opening up to anyone.

Just like the day she had returned home, Kelly found herself getting out of bed at sunrise. She showered and dressed in knee length shorts and a loose t-shirt. Her training began today.

She walked out of her bathroom, pulling her hair up in a ponytail as she went. She made her way over to her door but stopped halfway. She closed her eyes and drew a deep breath.

"I _so_ do not want to deal with this so early in the freakin' mornin'," she muttered to herself.

She opened her eyes and shook her head then again walked towards the door and opened it. She stared at the person who's presence she had felt arrive just moments ago.

Hiei stood there, leaning against the wall lazily. He stood up straight when he saw her standing at her doorway.

Kelly contemplated on whether or not to just ignore him and walk by. She wasn't given a chance however, because Hiei stepped in her way.

"We need to talk, onna," he told her. Those four little words that every girl dreaded, no matter what the situation was.

"I forgive you," Kelly said, attempting to step forward. "There, problem solved and conversation over."

Hiei stopped her by putting his hands on her shoulders. Kelly glared at him angrily, her face flushing slightly.

"I already know that. The fox told me," he said with a jerk of his head.

Kelly looked behind Hiei and saw that Kurama now stood there. Hiei let go of her shoulders and made room for Kurama to come stand next to him.

She looked from one demon to the other. Finally, she gave in and sighed with a roll of her eyes at the same time.

"Fine! You win! What the hell is so important that you have to bother me so early in the mornin'?!" she said slightly raising her voice.

Kurama chuckled and looked at Hiei. "Well I guess you were right and we should have waited for later. She really isn't a morning person, huh?"

"No shit, Sherlock," Kelly muttered under her breath.

Kurama shook his head then looked back at her and said, "We want to understand. Why are you so afraid?"

"And we want the _whole_ story, onna. Not the half-assed one you gave me last time," Hiei added.

Kelly looked at the floor. This was the last thing she wanted. She didn't want to tell them. But she knew that they wouldn't leave unless she did what they wanted.

"Have it your way then," she said quietly. "But if I'm gonna do this, then I might as well do it comfortably."

Kelly plopped down on the ground, her back against the wall and her legs outstretched. Hiei followed suit, already used to Kelly's strange habits. She had often sat on her kitchen floor to eat her cereal instead of on one of the chairs what were always empty.

Kurama soon sat down as well, giving a strange look at the two.

When he was settled and Kelly had placed her earphones in her ears and turned on her iPod, she began.

"To two demons, this story might seem pretty stupid, but to me, a full human at the time, it changed me. All during grade school, I never had a constant friend. I went from one group of friends to the next. People just never seemed to like me. In the earlier grades, it was because I was obnoxious." Kelly paused and smiled for a second. "When I reached the older grades, it was because I was 'weird' or 'not cool enough'. When I got to high school, it was because I was quiet and reserved, and when I _did_ talk, people found out that I didn't take crap from them.

"Anyways, the only friend I had made inside school that remained my friend for more than two years was my friend Sarah. She was crazy and fun, but she eventually moved ta Philly. I never saw her again. That was when I was 'bout ten I guess.

"I had other friends besides her, but none ever lasted long. After Sarah moved, I became friends with two of _her_ friends. That lasted barely a year. I then went onto another group and then another.

"I used to sit on the side of the playground by myself and watch all the other kids play. The mothers who monitored the recess would always come over and ask me if I was alright. I usually lied and said I was just tired because I had a long weekend at my aunt's house or I had had softball practice the night before and I was a little sore.

"Then, in the beginning of sixth grade, I made friends with Lauren. We did everything together. She was kinda my replacement for Brit in a way."

Kurama looked at Hiei. He telepathically sent him the conversation he and Kelly had had on best friends and the couple of days Kelly had been with the girl while Hiei was guarding her. He was careful not to send too much of the conversation however, it was not something that he wanted the fox to hear. Kurama nodded.

Kelly continued. "We went out every weekend. We were inseparable. Eventually we made friends with a new girl in our grade and two other girls. The new girl was Chrissy, our happy-go-lucky girl who loved to have a good time. Then Christine, the entertainer. She was a brilliant actress and hysterically funny. Finally, Erin, the peacekeeper. Her voice was so pretty. She always had the lead in all the school plays. But more than that, she could end any argument. I had a mean temper even then and she could always calm me down.

"I was friends with them up until I graduated grade school. It was the most stable friendship I ever had in school.

"Then, Erin went to a different high school. Our peacekeeper was gone.

"I stayed close to the other three throughout most of my freshman year. We all made new friends. I never thought that it would be a big deal, makin' new friends and all. But Lauren and Chrissy made a new friend named Devon. Devon didn't like me at all. Soon, I stopped getting phone calls from them. I was always hesitant to ask why, and when I did, I regretted it.

"Chrissy told me it was because Devon and I couldn't be in the same room as each other without fightin', which I knew wasn't true. I actually liked Devon, at the time at least.

"It hurt like hell. She and Lauren chose some girl they had just met over _me_; they're best friend since the middle of sixth grade. They threw me aside like I was _dirt_. Like I didn't matter. Like our _friendship_ didn't matter."

Kelly paused and closed her eyes. She refused to cry in front of Kurama and Hiei.

Kelly continued, her eyes still closed. "I didn't hear from anyone over summer vacation. Eventually I grew used to it. That was around the time I became obsessed with music and my iPod. I needed the music to drown out everything else. I needed it to help me forget, to help me feel like I wasn't alone. As long as there was music, I _wasn't_ alone; I wasn't slowly dying on the inside.

"Sophomore year is really just a haze in my mind. I didn't really do much. I kinda just grew quieter. I got closer to the friends I had made freshman year: Jamie, Steph and Mo. I never did much with them. Never really wanted to though. It was around this time that I kinda just gave up. I didn't trust 'em. Not really. But what did it matter? I was never gonna see 'em once I left for college. A friendship was pointless. At least, that's what I told myself.

"Junior year though, Chrissy broke off ties with Lauren. We were both abandoned and Lauren sought friendship with me again. I tried, I really did, but I was so mad and confused and… scared deep down. She left once, she'd leave again. And you know what? I was right.

I made friends with more people, mainly Lauren's friends. I tried really hard then, too. But they never included me in anything. When we walked through the hallways, I was always left behind. No one ever even noticed I wasn't _there_."

Kelly stopped. She couldn't continue. It was stupid, she knew. So stupid. But it hurt so much. She placed her head in her hands. She was so ashamed of herself. She didn't want to even see the two demon's reactions.

She suddenly felt two strong arms wrap around her shoulders. She snapped her head up to see Hiei's head next to hers. He was hugging her, something he had learned from Mukuro.

"There is no reason to be ashamed, onna," he told her gently. "You were hurt and betrayed more times than any person should be. And… you did what I could not. You did not take your anger out on innocent people, nor did you seek revenge."

Kelly was speechless. She looked over at Kurama who still sat across from her.

"Hiei is right, Kelly," he said. "You have every right to be upset and afraid and mad even. However, you must learn to overcome this fear. You cannot keep on running away."

"You must learn as I had to," Hiei spoke up again. He pulled away from Kelly, but kept his hands on her shoulders. He caught her eyes with his and refused to release them. "What you really want is a relationship that won't break."

He was right. Of course he was. Kurama scooted over to Kelly's other side. She turned her head to look at him.

"Yusuke, Kuwabara, all the others, and I as well can give you this. Our friendship will never wear thin," he said.

And just like that, the shell that surrounded Kelly shattered into a million pieces. She knew what Kurama had said was true. What both of them had said was true.

At the same time though, she had noticed that Kurama had not said Hiei's name.

* * *

so! now you all know why Kelly is the way that she is. this chapter had taken me forever to write, mainly cause i suck at thinkin' up names. but then there was how she would tell it and what had happened and ugg it was hard to write but hopefully you all understand it and what not. and now we go onto, in my opinion at least, the better parts of my story cause now Kelly's relaxed and the story can go full swing. wow, im excited lol


	21. Lon's First Move

omg! i finished this story! not here i mean, but on paper. it's all done! -does a little dance- ah god this feels good. but now im onto my next project wich i will tell you all about when i finish this story for all of you...

* * *

Facing Your Inner Demons

Ch 21: Lon's First Move

After Kelly's breakthrough, everyone could see a profound difference in her. She was more open, less hesitant, and all around happier.

Kelly was different, it was true, but there was still a small part of her old self left behind. She never forgot that Kurama hadn't mentioned Hiei's name. She knew that in the end, he would leave and go back to demon world and she would stay in the human world and live a normal human life, only much longer. So, she tried to pull away from Hiei but every time she did, she was pulled right back in. She was so drawn to him.

Finally, she decided that if she was going to get hurt in the end by his leaving, well, she might as well enjoy the ride there. So she stopped pushing him away. She knew she would be devastated, but at this point, she didn't care; a decision that would have devastating results in the long run.

Hiei, meanwhile, always asked himself why he did what he had. He wasn't even one of the ones that would "always be there for her."

He knew the answer, but he would never admit it, even to himself.

Kelly trained almost everyday. The others were extremely impressed by the progress she had made. By the middle of July, Kurama had pronounced that Kelly had reached the level of a lower A-class demon. Unfortunately, she most likely wouldn't get much stronger.

It was around this time that Lon made his first move.

Everyone had just finished training and they were waiting for Yukina to come out with drinks for them all. Kelly was humming to the music playing from her iPod as she lounged in the grass, watching the clouds float along in the sky.

Yusuke and Kuwabara were arguing over a video game they had played the night before while Kurama tried to settle the dispute. Hiei sat in a tree not even a foot behind Kelly's head.

Two seconds later, he was gone. He reappeared in front of Kelly who now stood. He unsheathed his sword as Kelly created two swords, one in each hand with her energy. She held them at the ready and then felt the other three complete the circle around her.

"Where is he, Kuwabara?" Yusuke asked.

Kuwabara nodded to the forest that was next to them. "In there," he said. "He's about thirty meters away and closin' in fast."

"How strong?" Kurama asked. They could feel the energy approaching, but from this distance, they could not feel how strong the intruder was.

"About as strong as our girl here," Kuwabara answered with a jerk of his head toward Kelly.

Kelly swallowed and said, "He's testin' me."

"Yes, but he is seriously underestimating us," Hiei said. "Don't worry; this will be taken care of quickly."

"I want to do this," Kelly whispered.

Hiei looked at Kurama and then Yusuke. They both shrugged. He looked back at Kelly and said, "Alright, but if it seems you can't handle it, then you back off."

Kelly nodded. Hiei saw the fear in her eyes. He had expected that. What he didn't expect was that the fear was mixed with determination. He turned back to the forest just as the demon they had been waiting for stepped out.

Kelly's first thought was that everyone had made a mistake. This "demon" looked much like a human. But then she noticed his cat-like eyes and slightly green hair. He wore a dark blue cloak and black pants that ended mid-calf. He wore shoes similar to Hiei's and his hair was pulled back in a ponytail.

The demon smiled showing sharp teeth and when he spoke, Kelly was sure that he wasn't human. "Well, well, well. Lon was right, the Rekai Tentei was reinstated to protect Inoji's little science experiment," she said with his slitted eyes on Kelly.

She shivered at his voice. It was reptile-like and raspy. She glared at him and said, "I am nobody's science experiment, you stupid bastard."

The demon chuckled and said, "You mean you're not _Inoji's_ science experiment. That was my mistake. Now, you are Lon's."

"I highly suggest you stop speaking," Hiei said through clenched teeth.

"Well, looky here. The girl's gotta boyfriend," the demon said. "And the forbidden child no less."

"I think it's time we shut the baka up. Don't you?" Hiei asked the others.

Hiei nodded at Kelly who smiled wickedly. Hiei smirked. He wasn't worried about her. She could handle it.

Kelly disappeared in a blur and reappeared in front of Lon's pawn. She held her hand out behind her, aimed at her friends. A silver barrier appeared around them. She didn't want anyone to get hit by accident.

The demon smirked and lunged forward with claws outstretched. Kelly dodged easily, swinging down both her swords. He regained his balance quickly and caught her blades in both of his hands. They disappeared from his grasp as Kelly released her energy from her control. She instead concentrated spirit energy into her right fist and punched him in the jaw. He fell down but quickly got back up to continue the fight.

Hiei, meanwhile, watched anxiously from inside the barrier. He knew she could handle herself, and yet he was still nervous. If anything were to happen to her…

"She'll be fine, Hiei," Kurama assured him. He nodded but said nothing. He was watching the fight intently.

Lon's henchman had once again lunged at Kelly. He was faster this time and Kelly was cut across the cheek, just barely dodging his attack. She cursed but didn't loose focus. She concentrated her half-demon energy into two silver orbs, one in each hand. She flung them at her opponent. They exploded, no longer having a medium to keep to two opposing energies together. The demon was flung back, against Kelly's barrier, where he slumped to the ground.

Kelly stopped to catch her breath. It was still hard for her to control her half-demon energy. She didn't pause for long. She rushed forward, dug her knee into the slumped demon's stomach, causing his torso to lurch forward. She formed a sword in her right hand and concentrated her elemental energy. Her materialized blade was covered with electricity as it sparked up and down the blade. She placed the edge of the blade centimeters away from the demon's throat. His eyes flicked upwards and met Kelly's.

"Where is Lon?" Kelly asked calmly.

"Like I'd tell," he was barely able to say. Kelly's knee was still in his stomach.

"My blade will not only cut you, it will electrocute you," Kelly said. "And don't think the charge will reach me. I control it."

"You wouldn't kill me," he said with a smile.

"Wanna bet?" Kelly asked.

Hiei saw through her bluff. She didn't have the heart to kill him. As he had discovered before, Kelly was far too kind hearted.

-Let down the barrier. - He told her telepathically.

Kelly looked up quickly at him. He didn't seem angry. She looked back down at the demon. She nodded slightly, and the barrier flitted out of sight.

Hiei and Kurama stepped forward. Kurama wrapped his rose whip around the demon after Kelly had gotten up. The thorns ripped into his skin, causing him to scream out in pain.

Hiei moved to kneel in front of the demon while Yusuke and Kuwabara came to stand on either side of Kelly.

"Kuwabara placed a hand on Kelly's shoulder and whispered, "You did well, Kelly. You should be proud. Let Kurama and Hiei handle the rest."

Kelly nodded and smiled up at him. She didn't care what anyone else said; she had a huge soft spot for the big guy.

Hiei took off his headband and opened his Jagan eye. He shut his other two eyes and his Jagan eye began to glow. The demon immediately ceased all efforts he had been making to escape. Kelly thought that he looked like he was in a trance.

Hiei knelt there for about a minute or so before he shut his Jagan eye and opened the other two. The demon laid unconscious on the ground, Kurama's rose whip still wrapped around him. Hiei turned to the others.

"He never met Lon. What he said before was a bluff. He was paid to come here by a subordinate of Lon's. The subordinate knew of Genkai's temple, but not that we would be here. It was just his or Lon's first guess," Hiei informed them.

"Anything about sendin' anyone else?" Yusuke asked.

Hiei shook his head. "No, nothing. He didn't know anything. He was given orders to bring the onna back alive by any means necessary. He wasn't told anything else."

"At any rate, we can't let this one return," Kurama said. "Hiei?"

"Right. Bring the onna back inside and calm her down," Hiei said as he waited for Kurama to unravel his rose whip from the unconscious demon.

"Calm her down?" Kuwabara asked, surprised. "But she's perfectly f-" He stopped talking when he looked beside him and saw Kelly. She was trembling from head to toe and her eyes were wide.

"She's gone into shock," Yusuke said worriedly. "Hiei's right. We need to calm her down." He grabbed Kelly and picked her up, his right arm supporting her knees and his left, her back. He nodded at Kuwabara and the two ran towards Genkai's temple.

Yukina was at the door carrying a tray with glasses and a pitcher of lemonade when she saw the two boys running at human speed to the door. Looking closer, she saw that Yusuke carried Kelly in his arms. The girl was shaking and hugging herself, as if she were trying to keep herself from literally falling apart.

Yukina quickly placed her tray down on the floor and ran out to meet them.

"What's wrong?" she asked as she got closer.

"She's not hurt," Kuwabara answered. "Kelly fought a demon that showed up to take her to Lon. She won, but I think it was all too much on her."

Yukina nodded as they rushed into the house. She motioned for Yusuke to put Kelly on the couch in the living room. Kelly instantly curled up in a ball, still hugging herself.

Yukina noticed the cut on the trembling girl's cheek and held a hand out to it. Her hand glowed slightly and the cut disappeared. She then looked into Kelly's eyes. Kelly looked up and saw the red eyes watching her, so much like the ice maiden's brother's.

"Hey… Yukina. I-I'm a mess, aren't I?" Kelly asked, still shivering. She forced a laugh and attempted to sit up.

Yukina helped her up and said, "No, Kelly. You're not." She stroked Kelly's blonde and violet hair out of her face.

Hiei and Kurama walked in then followed by Genkai who had heard the others rush in. She went over to Yusuke who stood at the arm of the couch. He quietly explained what happened as Hiei went and knelt beside his sister.

Kelly looked at him and her forced smile immediately turned into a frown.

"You probably think I'm just a baka onna, don't you?" Kelly asked quietly. "_I_ would. I mean, look at me. Just one fight and interrogation and I get like _this_." A look of disgust appeared on her face. "It was just so much. Seein' it with my own eyes, hearin' it with my own ears that Lon's out there plottin' on how to get me."

Hiei shook his head. "No, onna. That is not what I think," he told her. "You are much too kind. You are not a fighter. You have the capabilities, but not the heart. You should be proud of your win, not ashamed of how you came out of the fight. And I know you're afraid, but we will never let anything happen to you."

He disappeared, surprising everyone in the room.

"Where did he g-" Kuwabara started to ask, but Hiei appeared once again in front of Kelly.

In Hiei's right hand was Kelly's iPod. She had left it outside when she had quickly discarded it before her fight. Hiei handed it to her. She smiled at him and took the iPod, immediately unwrapping the earphones and placing them in her ears. She turned it on and took a deep breath.

"Better?" Kurama asked. He moved to sit beside her.

She smiled and said, "Yeah, loads better."

"It's amazing what that thing can do for you," Kurama said to her.

"Hey, at least I'm not on crack, okay?"

* * *

I HATE WRITING FIGHT SCENES! it's so annoying cause it takes forever, so almost all of my fight scenes are short because im too lazy to write more. you hafta write every little detail and ugg i hate it... so sorry if you were expectin a better fight but i just cant do it. lol


	22. The Plan

Facing Your Inner Demons

Ch 22: The Plan

The next morning, Kelly awoke from another troubled sleep. In her dreams, Lon's attack demon fought her again. But this time, she was alone, and she lost the fight.

"Ugg, I hate bad dreams," Kelly muttered as she rolled over in her bed. She looked at the clock and saw that it was 11:03 in the morning.

"Crap, crap, crappity, crap!" she exclaimed as she jumped out of her bed. "Oh, I'm sooooo late!"

On weekdays, she would set her alarm for nine o'clock for training. The guys were generally not happy when she was late.

Kelly seemed to almost fly to the bathroom where she quickly brushed her hair and teeth. She didn't even bother to straighten her hair and instead threw it up in a messy ponytail. She dressed quickly, not even checking to see if what she wore matched.

She grabbed her iPod of its stereo, tucked it into a pocket, and used her new demon speed to quickly make her way to the kitchen where she felt the other's presence.

"Hey! I'm sorry I'm late! I-oooff!" She looked up with a dazed expression to see that she had run into Kurama in her haste.

He chuckled and held her steady. "You're not late. We turned off your alarm. Don't you think we would have come to get you by now?"

Kelly blinked as she looked around the kitchen. Yukina seemed to be making tea while Genkai sat at the table reading a book. Hiei sat across from her eating a pint of ice cream.

She looked back to Kurama who looked very amused at her confusion and disheveled appearance.

"Why? And where's Yusuke and Kuwabara?" she asked.

Kurama guided her over to the table and sat her down next to Hiei. He sat on her other side and said, "They aren't here. Last night, after you went to bed and before we all left, we decided that you earned yourself a day off."

"A day off?" Kelly cocked her head to the side.

"Yes, a day off," Hiei answered. "Surely you know what that is."

Kelly spun around to face him. "Shut up Hiei! Unless you want me to take that ice cream and hit'cha over the head with it!"

Genkai chuckled. "Calm yourself girl. I don't want blood all over my table."

Kelly flipped her hand in a nonverbal "whatever". She got up and began her daily search for her cereal. She hadn't found it in time yesterday so it should still be in the same place.

"So, whatta we do on a day off?" She asked. She was kneeling on the floor at this point searching the cabinets next to the oven where Yukina stood.

"I believe that Yusuke, Kuwabara, Keiko, and Yukina wanted to take you to some underage club," Kurama answered. Both he and Hiei watched in amusement as Kelly proceeded to pull pots and pans out of the cabinet, looked in each one, and then placed them in a circle around her.

"Ha! Found ya!" she said loudly with a look of triumph on her face. In front of her was a rather large baking pan. Kelly reached in and pulled out a rainbow colored box and placed it on the counter above her.

"You and Hiei aren't comin'?" she asked as she started to put the pots and pans away.

"We are hardly the dancing type," Hiei answered.

Kelly rose and grabbed the cereal, a bowl, a spoon, and milk and sat back down in her seat between the two boys.

"Then don't dance," she retorted. "I'm gonna be left out 'cause the other four will be paired off."

Yukina sat down next to Genkai and poured two cups of tea. "We won't leave you behind, Kelly," she said.

"You won't _mean_ to," Kelly said. "But you will." She shrugged. "Come _on_, Kurama! Aren't you supposed to be a human teenager? You spend everyday here, or studying at your apartment! You need to get out and act your human age of eighteen and party!"

Kurama chuckled and then sighed. "Fine, fine. I guess I could use a break."

"Yes!" Kelly said happily. She then turned to Hiei and said, "Hiei! If you come I'll buy three pints of cookie dough ice cream for you!"

"Five," Hiei said with a smirk.

She scowled and said," Fine, but we split the fifth one.

"Deal. But I'm not dancing."

Kelly shrugged. "You don't have to. I probably won't either."

"But you love to dance!" Yukina protested. "Remember when we caught you the day you were going back home?"

Kelly's face flushed in embarrassment. "I didn't think anyone was watchin'!"

Kurama chuckled but looked down in surprise when he heard his compact communicator go off in his pant pocket. He pulled it out and opened it up to see Yusuke and Keiko on the screen.

"Hey, Kurama. Kelz wake up yet?" Yusuke asked.

Kurama nodded. "Yes," he answered. "I told her about the club and she even managed to convince me and Hiei to go along as well."

"Whoa, she did? Figures she would be able to do it. I bet she offered Hiei ice cream, right?" Yusuke asked laughing.

"Hn," Hiei said as he stood up with an empty ice cream pint. He threw it out then left the room.

Kelly smirked then placed her empty bowl in the sink and sat back down to listen to Yusuke.

"Anyway," Yusuke continued, "We'll call you guys around six to tell you how to get there. We'll meet you there at seven I guess, so you bet run fast. Carry Yukina or something. I got Botan to go and I think Shizuru said she would come."

Kurama nodded. "Alright. Until then." He shut the communicator and put it back in his pocket. "I should get going then. I'll need to get changed." He motioned to his slacks and button up shirt.

Kelly nodded and stood too.

"Mmkay, see ya later," she said with a wave. Kurama waved back and walked out.

Kelly left in the opposite direction, following the way Hiei had left earlier. She found him sitting on the windowsill in the living room. She sat on the other side of the large sill and pulled her knees up under her chin. Hiei looked over at her.

"What is it, onna?" he asked.

Kelly smiled. "Ya know, your gonna hafta find somethin' else to wear tonight," she said. "Humans don' wear stuff like that." She motioned to Hiei's cloak and boots.

"I don't see a problem with it," he said with a scowl.

"Oh well! You're changin'!" She grabbed his wrist and pulled him off the windowsill. They were gone in a flash, Kelly pulling Hiei along the entire way.

She stopped outside of Hiei's room and opened the door, pulling him in.

"Humor me, please," she said to him as she gently pulled him over to his large set of drawers.

She let go of his wrist and asked, "Which one's your pant drawer? I know you have some human clothes. You have to be able to fit in at some point."

He reluctantly pointed to a lower drawer. Kelly crouched down and opened it. She was unsurprised to see that there weren't many clothes in the drawer and the only color she saw was black. She rummaged through the clothes and finally pulled out a pair of black jeans.

"Knew it!" she said as she flung them back at Hiei. He caught them and placed them on his bed. He turned back and pointed to another drawer, answering Kelly's unspoken question.

Again, she looked through the clothes there. She managed to find the only other human clothes Hiei owned. A white beater shirt, followed by a dark blue, almost black, zip-up hoodie flew at Hiei. He caught them as well and placed them on top of his jeans.

"All right, get dressed in those then come out to see me," Kelly ordered as she walked out. She shut the door behind her as Hiei sighed.

She waited next to Hiei's door. She was anxious to see what Hiei would look like in human clothes. She was also anxious about tonight, but nervous as well.

He walked out wearing the outfit. He looked annoyed and kept pulling at the ends of the hoodie. Kelly could only stare at him. His white beater shirt showed off the top of his well muscled chest and then hugged the rest of his torso, showing off his well contoured body. The jeans were slightly loose, but they hugged his hips a bit, showing off his bottom. Kelly blushed and strengthened the barriers around her mind.

Hiei finally looked up and noticed her looking at him strangely and then noticed the pink tinge in her cheeks.

"To steal a human phrase, 'take a picture, it'll last longer'," Hiei said with a smirk.

Kelly's eyes widened. "Oh! I-I um…" she paused and saw Hiei's smug look. "I got nothin'."

Hiei chuckled then continued to tug on his hoodie.

"Here," Kelly said as she moved over to him. "You're supposed to zip this up part way…"

She took the ends of the hoodie and zipped them up about a third of the way. She quickly stepped back when she noticed how close she was to him and how he was looking at her face. She looked down and saw that Hiei was still wearing his boots. She mentally thanked God for an excuse to get around the awkwardness.

"Do you have other shoes?" she asked.

Hiei nodded slightly and led the way back into his room. He pointed to a small closet on the opposite side of the room. Kelly walked over to it, opened it up and found three pairs of Hiei's black cloaks on hooks, a spare sword, this one a katana, and three pairs of shoes, all of which were black.

Kelly picked up a pair that she found slightly normal. She walked over to Hiei and handed him the shoes.

"There," she said. She walked over to the door and turned back to look at him. "I'm gonna go attempt to fall back asleep. I woke up before twelve on a day off. I'll be ready in time though. Don't sit in any trees. I don' want you to ruin your outfit."

She left with a slight wave and closed the door behind her leaving Hiei alone to wonder what he had gotten himself into.

* * *

I personally, as the author of this story at least, really like this chapter. it lets me show more of Kelly's character i think, like how she just started pulling pots and pans out... and how she just grabbed Hiei and didnt even let him say no. lol. as for Hiei, well i can see him getting flustered around this girl that just does whatever she wants and doesnt care what he thinks. cause, if she doesnt care, well then he cant do anything lol. so he just goes along knowing that its no use protesting. kelly's one of those character's where shes crazy but you love her for it.


	23. The Club

**disclaimer: **dont own yu yu hakusho and i dont own the lyrics to Bleeding Love by Leona Lewis

* * *

Facing Your Inner Demons

Ch 23: The Club

Around four o'clock, music could be heard coming from Kelly's room. The shower was running and faint traces of Kelly's voice could be heard singing along with the blaring music.

She came down an hour and a half later, fully dressed, hair done, make-up on, and a purse slung over her shoulder. She walked into the living room and earned stares from Yukina, Hiei, and Kurama, who had returned.

Kelly blushed. "What? Do I really look that stupid? I knew I shouldn't have worn this. I'll go change," she said quickly.

"No!" Yukina said, rushing to grab Kelly's hand. "You look amazing."

Kelly blushed even deeper as Yukina and the two males looked her over. She had on dark blue jeans that hugged her waist and thighs. Her shirt was a black tank-top that showed off her curves and a bit of skin between the bottom of the shirt and the top of her jeans. It had a silver rose patterned onto the front and the thorned stem wrapped around to the back. Her hair was straightened as it normally was, but it wasn't up like it usually was. It fell over her bare shoulders, the blonde and violet clashing brilliantly with the black and silver of her shirt. She wore little make-up, just enough to accent her eyes.

"I never wear anything like this," she said. "I usually try to cover everything up, but…" She shrugged.

Hiei got up off the windowsill and walked toward the entrance where Kelly stood. He paused next to her and said, "You look like the onna you actually are." He smirked as Kelly's eyes widened and then left.

Kurama chuckled. "He was complimenting you, Kelly."

Kelly nodded. "Yeah, I know." She smiled slightly and then walked over to take Hiei's place on the windowsill.

Kurama didn't say it, but it was also Hiei's was of flirting with Kelly. He knew that the statement would upset her. The two could not get attached to each other. But Kurama knew, it might be too late.

* * *

Around six, Yusuke called to give them directions. Kelly slipped on a pair of black flats and met the others out front. She offered to carry Yukina on her back as they all ran into town, then walked the rest of the way, Kurama, Yukina, and Kelly talking as they went.

As they finally approached the club, they saw Yusuke and the others standing at the front of a crowd. Botan spotted them and called them over.

"Oh, don't you all look great!" she exclaimed when they finally reached her.

"You guys do too," Yukina said with a smile.

"Yukina!" Kuwabara shouted. "Oh, Yukina, you look so beautiful!" He made his way over to her.

She blushed and said, "Thank you, Kazuma. You look great as well."

Kelly looked over to see Hiei looking _very_ annoyed. Kelly placed a hand on his clenched fist. He looked up at her and asked telepathically –What? –

-He loves her, Hiei. He would never hurt her. - She thought back. She was not looking at him, but her hand was still over his.

-I know. But can her protect her? –

-It's not _can_ her protect her. It's _will_ he protect her. –

Kelly turned to look at him. She could hear the others still greeting each other, but she ignored them. She saw only Hiei.

Hiei in turn looked back. He thought about her statement. He didn't necessarily like Kuwabara, but he knew the baka would take good care of Yukina. He grew stronger _for_ Yukina.

Hiei sighed and unclenched his fist so that Kelly held a limp hand. He hesitated, and then clasped her hand in return. Kelly blushed slightly and looked down at the ground.

Kurama moved over to them and leaned down to whisper, "You might want to let go before the others see you."

Hiei had no emotion on his face as he let go of Kelly's hand. Kelly, on the other hand, looked embarrassed and she placed her hand in her pocket. Yusuke and Keiko walked over to talk to her and she moved away from Kurama and Hiei with a small wave.

"You're going to give her ideas, Hiei," Kurama said quietly.

Hiei scowled and said, "She knows I will leave. I do not see even see her as more than my charge."

Kurama shook his head and said, "You can deny it all you want, but after you leave and you finally realize it, it might be too late." With that, he walked away.

Annoyed, Hiei watched Kelly as she chattered away with Keiko and Yukina. She was excited, he could tell, but she was also very nervous. Back in America, she had never done anything like this. Let alone wear anything like she was. Hiei understood why she had acted the way she had back at Genkai's.

The door to the club opened and everyone rushed in, eager to get good spots on the dance floor. Botan ran in ahead of the others, found two tables right next to each other and sat down, motioning for the others to follow suit.

When everyone had made it to the tables, Botan, Shizuru, and Kurama went off to get drinks while the two couples went onto the dance floor, leaving Hiei and Kelly sitting at the one table.

Kelly didn't know any of the songs. They were all Japanese songs that were popular with the Japanese teens. She didn't know them, and yet she still found herself tapping her foot to the beat of the music. It was fun, something she could dance to, and were she in a room by herself, she would have.

Two boys who appeared to be around eighteen or so walked by Kelly and Hiei's table and saw the American girl sitting there. They stopped and sat down on either side of her.

"Hey there, baby girl. Howz about you let me and my friend show you a good time out on the dance floor?" the one asked. He leaned in close to her, barely inches away from her face.

"Sorry, but I'm fine here," she replied as she leaned away from him. Unfortunately, she leaned right into the other boy that had sat behind her.

"Aww, come on. I thought that American girls liked to party," the other said. He snaked his arms around her waist.

Her eyes widened and flashes of Inoji came to her. Hiei received the flashes as well. In her panic, Kelly had let down her mind barriers and had started broadcasting again.

"L-let go," she said in a shaky voice. She hated to be the damsel in distress, but she couldn't think straight as the fear consumed her.

The boys continued to come closer until they felt the girl being pulled away from them. They looked up to see Hiei protectively shielding Kelly who stood behind him, her head leaning in between his shoulder blades.

"I believe she rejected you. Twice in fact," he said calmly, though inside he was boiling with anger.

"Well, she's not here with anyone. She has the right to enjoy some male company," one of them responded.

"She's here with _me_," Hiei said, this time more aggressively. He grabbed her hand and shoved his way to the dance floor. He kept on going until he was sure that he had lost track of the two who had bothered Kelly. He let go of her hand and turned to face her.

She still seemed scared and unstable.

"Come on, onna," he said gently, "They're gone. It's okay."

Kelly looked up from the floor at him and gave a weak smile. Hiei sighed and moved closer to her in an attempt to comfort her in some way. The music then changed to a slower song.

"All right, here's an English song for all of the couples out there to enjoy," the DJ announced.

Kelly looked up at Hiei again and gave another smile, a real one this time.

"Bleeding Love by Leona Lewis," she said. "I _love_ this song."

"There's not even singing yet. How can you tell?" he asked.

She rolled her eyes. "It's not the singing that makes the song." She looked around for an opening in the crowd. There was none. "Um, I think we're stuck here for a bit.

Hiei nodded in agreement. Kelly stood there awkwardly, not knowing what to do. Not only were they stuck there, but they were stuck there close together. She sang along with the song in a low voice, but Hiei heard it because of how close they were.

"Closed off from love  
I didn't need the pain  
Once or twice was enough  
And it was all in vain  
Time starts to pass  
Before you know it you're frozen

Ooooh..."

Hiei, without thinking, closed the gap between them as she sang. He wrapped his arms around her waist.

"But something happened  
For the very first time with you  
My heart melted into the ground  
Found something true  
And everyone's looking 'round  
Thinking I'm going crazy."

Kelly didn't show any surprise or hesitation as she placed her arms around his neck.

"But I don't care what they say  
I'm in love with you  
They try to pull me away  
But they don't know the truth  
My heart's crippled by the vein  
That I keep on closing  
You cut me open and I

Keep bleeding  
Keep, keep bleeding love  
I keep bleeding  
I keep, keep bleeding love  
Keep bleeding  
Keep, keep bleeding love  
You cut me open

Oooh, oooh..."

Hiei placed his chin on the taller girl's shoulder and shut his eyes. Kelly buried her face into his neck as she continued to sing.

"Trying hard not to hear  
But they talk so loud  
Their piercing sounds fill my ears  
Try to fill me with doubt  
Yet I know that their goal  
Is to keep me from falling"

"But nothing's greater  
Than the rush that comes with your embrace  
And in this world of loneliness  
I see your face  
Yet everyone around me  
Thinks that I'm going crazy  
Maybe, maybe"

Hiei pulled her closer until there was no longer a space between them and their bodies pressed against each other.

"But I don't care what they say  
I'm in love with you  
They try to pull me away  
But they don't know the truth  
My heart's crippled by the vein  
That I keep on closing  
You cut me open and I

Keep bleeding  
Keep, keep bleeding love  
I keep bleeding  
I keep, keep bleeding love  
Keep bleeding  
Keep, keep bleeding love  
You cut me open."

He wrapped his arms tighter around Kelly's waist as they slowly continued to sway in time to the music.

"And it's draining all of me  
Oh they find it hard to believe  
I'll be wearing these scars  
For everyone to see"

Kelly stopped singing and listened to the music play on in the background. She brought her right hand up to Hiei's neck where she wove her fingered into his hair. She adjusted her head a bit so that she could feel his skin on her face and they continued to sway back and forth.

I don't care what they say  
I'm in love with you  
They try to pull me away  
But they don't know the truth  
My heart's crippled by the vein  
That I keep on closing  
You cut me open and I

Kelly had never been so content in her entire life. She never wanted to leave Hiei's arms. They were so warm. _He_ was so warm. It felt so _right_. She would never know it, but Hiei was thinking the same thing.

Keep bleeding  
Keep, keep bleeding love  
I keep bleeding  
I keep, keep bleeding love  
Keep bleeding  
Keep, keep bleeding love  
You cut me open and I

Keep bleeding  
Keep, keep bleeding love  
I keep bleeding  
I keep, keep bleeding love  
Keep bleeding  
Keep, keep bleeding love  
You cut me open and I  
Keep bleeding  
Keep, keep bleeding love.

The song faded to a close as another fast one started up. The couples around Hiei and Kelly split up and their way was clear.

Hiei slowly unwrapped his arms from around her waist as she did the same with his neck. They separated from each other and Hiei noticed that Kelly's face was tinged with pink.

"We should go back…" he said slowly.

Kelly nodded, refusing to look him in the eye. He grabbed her wrist lightly and guided her through the crowd.

They finally broke free and found themselves back at their table with everyone else already sitting down again.

"Hey! Where'd you guys go?" Yusuke asked with a suggestive tone and look on his face.

"The onna was having a hard time with some bakas," Hiei replied coolly. "We lost them in the crowd."

Yusuke shrugged and smiled. He went back to talking to Keiko.

The music changed to a fast playing techno type song. Botan and Keiko immediately jumped up to go dance, pulling Yukina and even Kelly and Shizuru along with them. They didn't go far; the others could still see them.

"Kelz may not want to admit it, but she loves to dance," Yusuke pointed out.

Kuwabara nodded. "She's good at it too."

Hiei watched as Kelly moved in perfect time with the beat of the music. Kuwabara was right, she was a good dancer. He found he couldn't tear his eyes away from her.

Kurama noticed and opened his mind so that Hiei would sense that he wished to talk.

-What is it, fox?-

-What were you two really doing?-

Hiei scowled. –I told you already.-

-Kelly's face was flushed. She seemed embarrassed. She doesn't get embarrassed easily.- Kurama informed him.

Hiei's scowl deepened. –We got stuck in the crowd together.-

-And?- Kurama prompted.

-We danced to last slow song.-

Kurama's eyebrows shot up. –First you kiss her and now you dance with her? You're going to give her ideas, Hiei.-

-I…I know.-

Kurama glanced over at him. Hiei no longer looked angry. Kurama was surprised to see confusion on his face. He followed Hiei's gaze to look over at Kelly again.

-She's an interesting girl. She's different from most humans.- Kurama told him.

Hiei didn't reply.

-You see it more than any of us, don't you? You've become attached to her.- Kurama would have suggested more, but he didn't believe that Hiei would be happy with that.

-I can't be attached to her.- was Hiei's simple answer.

Kurama glanced over at Hiei again and saw that in addition to the confusion, there was sadness etched in his face as well.

* * *

i hate it when a guy calls me baby girl i dont care who they are i hate it... which is why i made the one guy say it... i wanted to detest them ya know? and i dont feel like explaining why i chose this song but it does make sense, at least i think it does... sorry im exhausted lol


	24. Aftermath

Facing Your Inner Demons

Ch 24: Aftermath

Kelly, Yukina, and Hiei left to go back to Genkai's on their own, Kelly carrying Yukina on her back as they ran. When they reached the edge of Genkai's land they slowed to a walk. Hiei watched from behind as Kelly and Yukina chatted animatedly in front of him.

Watching the two walking ahead of him, Hiei realized that the overwhelming instinct to protect his sister was starting to become familiar for Kelly as well. He realized that he would do anything to protect the girl. When those men had touched her, Hiei's blood had boiled in his veins. He wanted nothing more than to have slit their throats, but he knew he couldn't. Not only that, but Kelly had made him leave his sword back in his barely used room in Genkai's temple.

So killing them had, sadly, been out of the option.

He looked at Kelly. An unfamiliar feeling cascaded on him like a wave, gripping his chest and taking him for a wild ride, one that he didn't know the outcome of. He didn't understand this feeling, so he pushed it away for the time being, jumping off the ride and landing on solid ground again, where he could think.

The three eventually found themselves at the bottom of the long stairway that led to the front of the temple.

Kelly sighed. She absolutely hated these steps. She had little patience and even at home she would take her steps two at a time, even though there were only thirteen of them. Taking them one at a time took much too long for her tastes.

But she was tired form her night at the club and then carrying Yukina here while running at top speeds. Not to mention the fact that it was one o'clock in the morning. She didn't know if she would make it all the way up.

She and Yukina started to trudge up the steps, Hiei following silently behind.

"Damn these steps," Kelly complained after having been climbing them for about five minutes. "I will never, _ever_, take elevators and escalators for granted again."

Yukina laughed lightly beside her. "I agree," she said.

Hiei sighed in frustration and went over to Yukina and picked her up and ran the rest of the way up the steps, leaving Kelly far behind.

Kelly blinked. She would have been extremely angry had she been more awake, but her brain could barely form coherent thoughts. All she knew was that it was dark, cold, and now she was alone.

Unable to even begin thinking of what to do, she walked over to the trees that lined the stairs and sat down underneath one. She closed her eyes and waited for the sleep to set in.

She was rudely awakened when she felt herself being lifted by two strong arms.

She was instantly awake and aware and she pushed the person away from herself yelling, "Hands off, dip-shit!"

She went into a fighting stance, but relaxed when her "attacker" stood up.

"Baka onna," Hiei said in a gruff voice.

"Oh!" Kelly said with wide eyes. "Heyo, Hiei. Sorry 'bout that!"

"Hn. I didn't think you would wake up," he told her with an annoyed look on his face.

"You should know by now that I'm a light sleeper," Kelly said curtly. "You spent almost three months guarding me and you never took notice?"

Hiei grunted. "I noticed that you are exceptionally _odd_. You just drop onto the ground whenever you don't want to stand anymore." He pointed to the base of the tree where Kelly had been sleeping just moment ago. "And, you make up the most ridiculous words. _Dip-shit_?"

Kelly smiled and said, "Yes, but that's just onetwo of the beautiful qualities that defines me."

Hiei rolled his eyes then made to pick Kelly up again. She didn't fight back this time and instead laid her head on his shoulder.

Hiei surprised Kelly by not running up the stairs. She was going to ask him why he walked, but decided against it.

Instead she asked, "Why did you dance with me today?"

Hiei didn't answer for a moment and when he did speak it wasn't to give an answer but to ask a question to counter Kelly's own.

"Do you regret it?"

Kelly's eyebrows disappeared behind her bangs. They came back down a moment later and furrowed in thought.

"I… don't know," she answered slowly. "I don't regret it now… but I think I will… in the end," she finished quietly.

Hiei nodded. He knew she was aware of the consequences. She had made this clear to Hiei when he had kissed her and she ran off.

"Why did you dance with me?"

Hiei knew that he couldn't avoid the question this time.

"I don't know. I just did. My body just acted."

Kelly seemed to accept this answer for she didn't say anything for another short while.

"Do _you_ regret it?" she asked. She didn't look up and instead closed her eyes, her head still on Hiei's shoulder.

"No… I don't," he replied quietly.

Kelly nodded, as if she had expected this answer.

She kept quiet as Hiei continued slowly up the stairs. The silence was broken by Hiei this time.

"I saw… your thoughts of Inoji when those bakas were bothering you."

He felt Kelly stiffen in his arms. She opened her yes slightly and saw that the top of the stairs was approaching.

"I didn't want you to see that. I got careless," she whispered.

"I already knew most of it."

"But not all of it. I didn't want you or anyone else to know."

"Too late, onna."

"Gee, thanks."

She sighed and her breath blew against Hiei's neck. Her eyes were closed again, so she didn't see the goose bumps that rose on his skin where her breath had passed over it.

"He was such a pig. Always… touching me," she shivered involuntarily. Hiei gripped her tighter, careful not to hurt her. "I swear, I musta gone through so many clothes, 'cause he loved to just… rip 'em off, ya know?"

Hiei felt a drop of liquid fall onto the hollow of his neck and he realized she was crying. This upset and angered him greatly. It took a lot to make her cry. She had once told him that crying showed weakness, so she tried not to.

The anger that slowly simmered into a raging fire was for Inoji. How dare he touch her? Were Inoji not dead, Hiei would have left to go kill him right now.

By now, the two had reached the front of the temple. Hiei didn't know what to do to get Kelly to stop crying, so he did nothing. Instead, he carried her into the temple and made his way up to her room.

He gently placed her on her bed. She opened her eyes to see that he remained there.

She got up, grabbed clothes off of her bedside table and slowly trudged into her bathroom, still half asleep.

She came back about ten minutes later, tears gone and wearing her long basketball shorts and a baggy t-shirt that looked like it belonged on an expecting mother. Her make-up was cleaned off, but her hair still fell over her shoulders.

She noticed that Hiei sat at the end of her bed. She was surprised that he hadn't left yet.

She said nothing as she crawled up into her bed. She looked over at Hiei to see that he gazed warily back at her.

"I'm fine," she lied.

Hiei saw through it. He knew her too well, probably better than any of the others did by now.

"You'll have nightmares about him again. I hear you scream sometimes," he told her.

Kelly sighed, knowing that she couldn't argue against it.

"But if you're fine… then I guess I'll leave."

"No!"

Hiei stopped where he was, already half way to the door. He turned to see Kelly sitting up, a blush on her cheeks, her eyes looking down, not at him.

She swallowed as if to give herself more time, and then said quietly, "I'm afraid. I don't want to be left alone. If I am, I'll see _him_ everywhere."

Hiei nodded and walked over to the window seat and sat down. He leaned against the one side so that he faced her.

"Go to sleep, onna," he told her. He watched as she lay back down and closed her eyes. Five minutes later, Hiei could tell she had fallen asleep by the slow, even breaths she was taking.

Hiei sighed, knowing that it would be a long night. He closed his eyes and fell asleep instantly.

He was woken up in what seemed like five minutes but was actually two hours later. He looked over at Kelly, the source of the noise that had woken him.

She tossed and turned in her bed, her hands gripping at her covers. Sweat poured down her face and tears slowly leaked out of her tightly closed lids. She murmured fervently and randomly shouted out words such as "No!" and "Stop!"

It was when she screamed "Get away from me!" at the top of her lungs that Hiei hurried over to her bed and placed a hand on her shoulder. She shot up, a scream forming on her lip. Hiei quickly placed a hand over her mouth to prevent the scream.

"It's me! It's Hiei!" he whispered urgently into her ear.

Kelly seemed to regain herself as her widened eyes met Hiei's own red ones. He removed his hand form her mouth when he was sure that she was calm again.

Tears still fell from her eyes as she whispered, "Hiei, oh God. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you. I just-"

"Baka onna," Hiei said with a small smile playing on his lips. "I will never understand you. How can you be _sorry_?"

Kelly wiped her eyes and shrugged. Hiei shook his head in amusement.

"Are you alright now?" he asked.

Kelly hesitated before answering. Her instincts told her to say yes. She wasn't one to let on what she was feeling. But she was terrified beyond belief.

"No," she whispered. She paused then said, "Please don't leave."

Hiei was surprised by her answer. He didn't have to drag the truth out of her for once. He looked her over, noting how she refused to look up at him and how her cheeks were tinged with pink.

He slowly sat down on the bed and encircled his arms around her shoulders. He felt her stiffen in surprise, but she relaxed again and leaned into him.

"For once, you think of yourself instead of others," he said with a small chuckle.

"I'm tired and not thinking clearly," she murmured.

Hiei sighed as he pulled her down to lie on the bed. He kept her close as he dragged the blanket from her waist to her shoulders. She buried her head into his chest and he felt her relax completely.

"Sleep, onna."

She nodded against his chest and sighed in contentment. She felt strange, lying in bed with Hiei, but she felt elatedly happy as well. Nothing, she decided, could feel better than this. She drifted off into sleep thinking this.

Hiei, meanwhile, was planning on leaving after she fell asleep, but once she did, he found that he couldn't tear himself away from her. He needed to know that she was okay. This wasn't like him at all. What had this girl done to him? He hesitated briefly, then closed his own eyes and fell asleep lying beside the girl he had unwillingly become attached to.


	25. Waking Up and New Plans

Facing Your Inner Demons

Ch 25: Waking Up and New Plans

Kelly slowly drifted into the familiar in-between state of unconsciousness. She was asleep, but she thought instead of dreamed, and felt instead of being numb. She was unusually warm and content. It was generally colder than what she was feeling right now. It came with staying in the mountains where Genkai's temple was located.

She took a deep breath and found that what she smelled was not the fabric softener she used on her sheets, but a cindery, outdoorsy type smell. Hiei. She would know that smell anywhere.

Flashes of the night before sprang into her head. Hiei had stayed with her, but she had expected him to have gone back to her window seat or even have left completely. He had actually stayed next to her.

She slowly opened her eyes and squinted as the sunlight hit them. The sun was too bright for it to still be morning; it must be the afternoon already.

Widening her eyes, she saw only white. Looking up, she realized that it was the shirt she had made Hiei wear to the club. She looked up farther, and there it was, the face she had been searching for.

Hiei slept soundly, his breath blowing across the top of Kelly's head. Looking at his sleeping face, she thought that he looked so innocent and calm. His emotionless mask was gone and the muscles in his face were relaxed. She couldn't help but think of how much younger he looked. Not to mention how good-looking he was.

A blush appeared on her cheeks as she thought about that for a minute. She shifted slightly against him and felt his arms tense slightly. She breathed in quickly at the movement. She could feel his well built muscles in his arms and chest.

She closed her eyes again and took in everything. She memorized his scent, the way he felt lying against her, and how his arms circled around to her back and held her firmly in place. She buried her head deeper into his chest, reveling in the warmth he provided.

She wasn't surprised by the absence of a heartbeat. Her own heart had stopped after her transformation by Inoji. He had explained that she now had something called a "core". She didn't understand much about it, only that she would no longer be able to visit a human doctor. Spirit World, along with Yukina and Genkai, were her only means of medicine, and Koenma had been very hesitant with the whole thought doctor visits. Good thing she never really got sick, thanks to her demon enforced immune system.

Hiei started to awaken. Kelly could hear the disruption of his breathing as he slowly became aware again.

He slowly opened his eyes and saw a mass of blonde and violet hair splayed out on the pillow he rested his head on. He breathed in and smelled a familiar scent. The raspberry and vanilla perfume that Kelly wore was all too familiar to him now, and the lavender candles she lit in her room was just as recognizable. It was a strange combination, but not unpleasant. Hiei was so in tune with Kelly's scent that he could find it anywhere.

He still couldn't believe that he had stayed all night. She probably couldn't either.

He looked down and saw that Kelly's eyes were closed. He knew she was awake though. She was tense, probably nervous of what he would do now that he was awake.

"I know you're awake, onna. Don't pretend," he whispered into her ear. It seemed almost wrong to speak up in the quiet room and destroy the pleasant silence.

Kelly's eyes shot open. She looked up to find he was looking back, his face only inches from hers.

"Um… mornin', Hiei," she managed to get out.

He chuckled as he slowly brought his arms back to his side. She still watched his face to see if he was upset or for any other display of emotion, but there was none. He simply kissed her forehead, almost as if to say it was alright, nothing more, then got up off the bed and walked to the door.

He paused with his hand on the doorknob and turned back to Kelly, who was still lying on her bed, her hair in odd angles around her head.

"You owe me sweet snow today," he paused then added, "and for some reason, I find that I like your hair crazy like that." He motioned to her head.

Her eyes widened and a dark blush came to her cheeks. She seemed to be blushing more and more because of him. He smirked and then quickly left before he could say anything more ridiculous.

So many thoughts had come to his mind. She was so beautiful. He was glad he had stayed, and he felt really good when he woke up with her right next to him. He felt good being near her _period_.

And it was scaring him.

He shouldn't feel this way. But what _was_ he feeling? He didn't know. It was so unfamiliar to him, so confusing. The wave crashed down on him again. He wasn't sure if he liked the ride it took him on or not. It felt good, but he didn't like things that he didn't understand. What was this girl doing to him? He had kissed her forehead and then flirted with her!

One thing was for sure, just like Mukuro had changed him, Kelly was changing him. And to be honest, he didn't know how to take it.

* * *

Kelly came down an hour later and after a quick lunch (it was already 1:30 in the afternoon) she and Yukina took the long trek to the nearest town to buy groceries and the ice cream Kelly owed Hiei. She carried Yukina once again, too impatient to walk for hours. They didn't have time for that anyway. So of course, she lost her patience on the way back as well and carried not only Yukina, but also all the groceries.

By the time they got back, Yusuke, Kurama, Kuwabara, Keiko, and Shizuru had already arrived. They had all decided the day before at the club that they would all spend the day at the beach at the end of Genkai's property.

Kelly panted her way into the kitchen, four paper bags in her arms, Yukina following behind her carrying three bags of her own. They both placed their loads on the counters.

"Did a little shopping, huh kids?" Shizuru asked as she went to help them put everything away.

"We would have done more, but Kelly got impatient and insisted we leave," Yukina said. She laughed at Kelly's obstinate face.

"Fine. _Don't_ be grateful that I carried you _and_ all the groceries here. I don't care at _all_," she said sarcastically.

Yukina laughed again as she placed two cartons of milk into the fridge. "I said thank you. And I told you that you didn't have to," she told Kelly.

Kelly sighed. "And if I hadn't, we'd still be out there. But whatever. You win. Shizuru, where's Hiei?"

Shizuru pointed towards the back of the house and said, "He went out with Kazuma and everyone else."

Kelly nodded as she picked up the five pints of cookie dough ice cream that she had bought for Hiei. She gave a small smile remembering the first time she had given him this particular flavor. It was her favorite and she had bought it from a local food store and had gained Hiei's curiosity. He just couldn't resist ice cream.

She made her way outside and found the fire demon in a tree as usual. He was surveying the four others as they sat talking a few feet away from the tree.

Kelly walked forward, making her way to the tree Hiei sat in.

"Kelz!" Yusuke shouted when he finally noticed her.

Kelly waved and greeted the four and then continued on her way to Hiei. When she got to the base of the tree, she looked up to call him down, but he was already gone. Her brow furrowed in frustration and for a moment, she believed that he was avoiding her because of what had happened the night before and this morning.

Her worries were eased when she felt one of the pints of ice cream lifted away from her.

"So you really did buy five," Hiei stated. He stood to her left, the pint of ice cream already opened in his hand.

"I told you I would. But remember, we share one."

"I know. A deal is a deal."

He walked away after taking the other four pints from her. She shook her head, amused with his obsession.

"Hey!" she called to the other four. "If you guys wanna go to the beach, we'd better go now!"

"Ok! We're coming!" Keiko called back.

Kelly watched as the four got up then turned towards the temple, following Hiei who was way ahead of her. She heard the others laughing behind her as she made her way into the kitchen to help Shizuru and Yukina put away what was left of the groceries.

"You bought more sugary cereal _and_ four boxes of pop-tarts?" Genkai asked crossly when she saw Kelly enter the room.

"Relax, Grams. I bought 'em with my own money," Kelly replied as she walked over to the counter where the food in question sat. Kelly began to place them in the cabinet at her feet.

"I don't think that was her point," Hiei said. He sat at the table, his ice cream arranged in a semi-circle around him. The center pint had a spoon sticking out of it, and bits of the ice cream were already missing.

"Yeah, I know. I'm not that stupid. Just pretty close."

Hiei rolled his eyes then went back to eating his ice cream. Kelly smiled then murmured about getting ready for the beach. She passed the other four who had been outside and told them to meet her out front. They nodded their consent then made their way out front with Shizuru while Yukina and Hiei followed Kelly to get ready.

Hiei already knew he was in for it again.

* * *

okay, as for the whole no heart thing, that is in the anime and in the manga but it is better explained in the manga. Kurama i think explaines that demons dont have hearts, they have "cores" whatever that is. Yusuke is only a half-demon but he still has one and so i thought it only right for Kelly to not have one. Anyone notice how i never mentioned her heart in any way except figuratively (her heart broken) not literally (her heart raced)?

a gold star to anyone that did. lol i think i said her chest tightened instead...


	26. The Beach

Facing Your Inner Demons

Ch 26: The Beach

Kelly met Yukina outside the ice maiden's room. They didn't expect to see Hiei, nor did they. The two quickly made their way out to the front of the temple, shouting farewells to Genkai who was playing a fighting game in one of her various rooms.

"There they are!" Kuwabara spoke up when he spotted the two girls approaching them. He ran towards Yukina yelling, "Yukina, my sweet! You're bathing suit is beautiful!"

Yukina blushed then looked down at her pink one piece and matching cover skirt and flip-flops. The back scooped low, the straps criss-crossing together.

"Thank you, Kazuma," she said with a smile.

Shizuru walked over and placed a hand on her brother's shoulder and said, "Careful, little bro. If you drool too much you could get dehydrated."

Kelly began to laugh as Kuwabara turned around to yell at his sister. Yukina's face grew redder by the second. Kelly laughed again then took Yukina's hand and pulled her over to where the others waited.

As they got closer, Kelly could see that Botan had joined them and that Hiei stood there as well. She couldn't tell if he was annoyed because he was there or if he was just happy to have the ice cream that he still munched on. His face was kind of screwed up in concentration... or annoyance... hard to tell with Hiei.

Kelly looked him over and noticed that in addition to the blue sleeveless shirt he had on, he also wore what appeared to be black swim trunks with a white design on the side and black sandals.

Hiei noticed her curious look and simply said, "Yusuke's."

Kelly laughed again then let go of Yukina's hand as the ice maiden went over to be appraised by Keiko and Botan. Botan was, of course, in the latest fashion. She wore a dark blue bikini, a denim skirt covering the bottoms until they reached the beach. Keiko, meanwhile, wore a low scoop red one piece with Hawaiian flowers printed on it.

Kelly turned her attention back to Hiei who had approached her. He pointed at her legs and said, "Why are you wearing boy's swim trunks?"

Kelly burst out laughing, as did Yusuke and Kurama who were standing next to Kelly as she watched the rest of the girls.

Hiei grew frustrated and said angrily, "I don't see how that's funny."

Kelly calmed down enough to answer, "Well, I don't know about in Japan, but in America, girls sometimes wear these." She motioned to her bottoms. "Their called surf, or board shorts. These are my favorite ones. My top matches, not that you can see it now…"

Her surf shorts reached just above her knees, which was why Hiei had been confused. They were white with green words scribbled over it. A crazy pair of shorts to match her crazy personality. She wore a tight fitting t-shirt that covered her matching top of white and green. Her hair was down again and held back by a pair of sunglasses. On her feet was a comfy pair of brown flip-flops from some American store.

"They still look like they belong on a male," Hiei muttered.

Kelly chuckled then went to catch up with the others who were already heading down the steps. Hiei followed behind her, still muttering and obviously more annoyed now, despite the fact that he had his "sweet snow."

They eventually made their way onto the beach. Yusuke and Kuwabara immediately threw their shirts and sandals off and then ran into the ocean.

"C'mon, Keiko!" Yusuke yelled. He watched as she took off her shorts and ran to him. He was thrown into the water as she tackled him.

Yukina and Botan ran in after discarding their own cover ups. Kelly laughed as she watched them tackle and splash each other. She didn't join them, but instead lay down on a towel she had brought and pulled out her iPod from her shorts. She put the earphones in her ears and placed her hands behind her head, using them as a pillow. She then pulled her sunglasses down so that they covered her eyes.

"You're not going in?" Kurama asked as he sat down beside her. He stretched his legs out and straightened the red swim trunks and white t-shirt that he wore.

"Nah, I'm not really a beach person… too much heat and salt…" she answered. She shrugged at Kurama's questioning look telling him she was fine. And for once, she meant it.

Hiei and Shizuru sat down as well, Hiei sitting on Kelly's other side and Shizuru sitting next to Kurama. Kelly closed her eyes and enjoyed the cool breeze that came from the mountains.

She was left in peace for a total of ten minutes before Kuwabara, Yusuke, and Botan ran over to her spot, dripping water on her.

"Hey! What're you _doin_'?" she exclaimed as she sat up quickly, her sunglasses flinging off the bridge of her nose.

Yusuke and Kuwabara grabbed her arms, while Botan pulled her iPod off her lap and turned it off and threw it to Shizuru who caught it and placed it next to her.

The two males pulled Kelly to her feet with more cries issuing from her. Botan quickly grabbed the hem of her shirt and, with Yusuke and Kuwabara's help, was able to take it off, despite Kelly's struggling and cries of "perverts!"

"You'll thank us for this later!" Yusuke said as he and Kuwabara dragged her towards the water.

"I highly doubt- aaaaahhhh!" Kelly was cut off as the two boys threw her out into the ocean water in between Keiko and Yukina. They too screamed as the splash from Kelly's fall hit them.

She came up spluttering and coughing while her three kidnappers laughed. She smiled wickedly as she turned to Yukina and Keiko.

"You two might want to go to shore. Those three are about to regret their latest decision," she told them quietly. She watched as they ran to shore and received questioning glances from the other three.

By the time they looked back, it was too late. A large wave crashed over them, knocking them over.

They stood back up one by one, coughing out the salt water that had entered their lungs. They looked back to see that Kelly stood with her arms out, her fingers spread apart. Her legs were spread and braced against the water.

She relaxed her stance and a smug look came across her face. "Idiots," she said.

"_You_ did that?" Botan asked in surprise.

"Duh," Kelly said with a roll of her eyes. She laughed at their expressions. They had obviously never heard an English "duh" before.

She slowly made her way towards shore. As she walked past them she said, "You're lucky that my elemental control is as limited as it is. If I had had the choice, that wave would've been _much_ bigger."

They waited until she was out of earshot to let out their held breaths.

"Man, that girl can be scary when she wants to," Kuwabara said quietly.

"Tell me about it," Yusuke agreed.

Kelly walked back to her towel in the sand, dripping a trail of water behind her as she went. Keiko and Yukina passed her on their way back into the water. They were laughing and as they passed, they slapped high five with Kelly, whose hands were held up in waiting. She laughed in return then went and sat on the edge of her towel.

"The look on their faces was priceless," Shizuru told her. "Nicely done."

"Thanks," she replied with a laugh.

Kurama shook his head. "You are a piece of work."

Hiei snorted and said sarcastically, "Yes, but that's just one of the beautiful qualities that defines her."

Kelly doubled over in laugher along with Shizuru and Kurama. Hiei merely smirked.

He looked Kelly over. She had laughed more today than he had ever seen her laugh before. She really was happy with them.

Hiei trailed his eyes over her curved figure as she sat watching those in the water. Her wet hair hung down the sides of her face and dripped water down her exposed back and stomach.

He knew the reason she didn't want to go into the water was because she didn't want to be so exposed as she was. Just like with what she had worn to the club, the bikini top was not something she would normally wear. Honestly, Hiei was glad she was getting bolder.

He followed one of the drops of water as it fell from her bangs and down her cheek. It rolled down her neck and slowly made its way to her chest and slid in between her breasts.

He felt the heat rush to his face and to the rest of his body. He was normally warmer than most demons and humans, but now it was if he was on fire. He tore his eyes away from Kelly.

It was then that Kelly chose to look over at him. She was surprised to see that his face was beet red.

"Hiei, are you okay?" she asked in a concerned voiced.

Hiei had to clear his throat before he could speak.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he said in a strangled voice.

"Are you sure? You're all red…" She trailed off as she went to place her hand on Hiei's forehead.

Hiei swallowed trying to find his voice again, but it was lost when he looked back over at her. Her outstretched hand exposed her stomach and showed off her hourglass figure.

Hiei closed her eyes as Kelly placed her hand on his forehead. She immediately withdrew it.

"Ow! Hiei, you're _way_ warmer than you usually are."

This drew the attention of Kurama who now looked over in concern. One look at Hiei's face however, and the concern turned into amusement.

"Hiei is fine, Kelly," he told her. "It's probably just the heat. Right, Hiei?"

"Right," Hiei barely managed to say. He quickly stood up and said, "I better go cool off. I promise not to touch the last pint of sweet snow until you come back." He said the last bit to Kelly, but refused to look at her. He disappeared in a blur, a gust of sand kicking up slightly in his wake.

Kelly rounded on Kurama. "It is _not_ the heat. He's a fire demon! Don't fuck with me, Kurama!"

Kurama's eyebrows rose while Shizuru laughed.

"Such vulgar language from the little lady," Shizuru stated.

"Not the point! Kurama, wha's goin' on?"

"Calm down, Kelly. Hiei's alright," Kurama assured her. "He just… um… got a little excited." Kurama couldn't lie to the girl, but he refused to tell the whole truth.

"Excited…?" Kelly's brow furrowed in thought. Her eyes widened after a bit and her eyebrows disappeared into her bangs. "Oh! OH! No way!" She looked around quickly as if looking for someone. When she found no one she turned back to Kurama. "But I'm the only…"

Kurama looked at her pointedly.

It was safe to say that Kelly had lost all composure at this point.

"Me?!" she squeaked. "But… no! No way. I mean, it's _me_ we're talkin' 'bout. I mean… Yusuke and Kuwabara were fine. And so are _you_!" She pointed at Kurama accusingly.

Kurama chuckled and said, "Yusuke and Kuwabara have eyes only for their girlfriends. I see you as a close friend, a younger sister, if you will. Hiei sees you for the young woman that you actually are and so he is affected by you the most."

"Oh… I see," Kelly said after a minute. Kurama could see that she was confused.

"Don't fuss over it, kid," Shizuru told her. She leaned over Kurama and flicked Kelly's ear. "Guys are a pain in the ass."

Kelly laughed and nodded. She lay back down on her towel and put her earphones in again. She closed her eyes, determined not to think of what had just occurred.

* * *

okay so i know Hiei was a little ooc but i wanted to show that he was not only falling for Kelly but he is also finding that he is attracted to her physically as well. in all the other instances, it's only Kelly thinking of Hiei's looks, not the other way around. I dont like the whole going out with someone jut based on looks, but i wanted some of it in here. just to show the reader, you know?

oh, and i dont think i've shown much of it, but Kelly and Yukina are very close. Kelly is closer to Yukian than any of the others besides Kurama and Hiei. Hiei, of course, is the closest to her. But Kelly spends most of her free time with Yukina so its only natural that they become something like best friends.


	27. Revelations

there's a little bit of a song in here. it actually doesnt have anything to do with the story, it's just a fun song for Kelly to sing after a fun day at the beach!

**disclaimer:** i dont own Yu Yu Hakusho or its characters and i dont own what lyrics i used from Teenagers by My Chemical Romance

* * *

Facing Your Inner Demons

Ch 27: Revelation

They all headed back to Genkai's two hours later. They took turns using the various bathrooms in order to clean off the sand and salt water.

Kelly was the last to finish, having let both Botan and Shizuru use her bathroom before she did. She bounded into the living room where the others waited.

As usual, they heard the hyper girl before they actually saw her.

"They said now teenagers scare the living shit out of me," she sang loudly as she slid into the room, her socks acting like ice skates. "They could care less as long as someone'll bleed. So darken your clothes Or strike a violent pose." She held her hands out as if they were a gun, her iPod in between them. "Maybe they'll leave you alone But not me"

The others watched and listened in amusement as Kelly pretended to play the guitar as she strummed in perfect unison with the music emanating from her.

She sang the chorus twice more, this time moving her hands in time with the drums playing. The song ended abruptly to applauses from the small crowd in the room.

"Thank you! Thank you! I'm here 'til Thursday. Try the veal!" She laughed as she bowed. When she came back up her eyes caught Hiei's who, of course, sat on the windowsill across the room. Her face flushed slightly as she remembered the beach and she quickly looked away.

"Kelz, you are _much_ better than television," Yusuke said after he had finished laughing.

"I know. It's a gift," she said, a huge grin plastered on her face.

She started to walk over to sit next to Kurama on the couch, but stopped when something moved in the corner of her eye. She turned to see what it was and yelped as she instinctively held a hand out. She closed it when the item in question hit it. She brought her hand back down and looked at it to see that she held a spoon.

"I'm about to start the last pint, onna," Hiei said calmly. It was easier to talk to her now that she was no longer in a bathing suit, soaking wet. Though her shorts and form-fitting beater did leave much for the eye to desire.

"Oh!" Kelly said in surprise. She walked over to the windowsill and sat on the opposite side, her legs resting just in front of Hiei's feet. "You know, you didn't hafta throw a freakin' spoon at me."

"Yes, I know. But I did anyway."

"Jerk." Kelly grabbed the ice cream pint that sat untouched in the space between them. She opened it and immediately scooped some out and ate it.

Hiei snatched it from her and took his own scoop. The process repeated a couple of times until Botan's communicator began to ring.

"Koenma?" Botan asked, surprised when she saw the toddler's face on her screen.

"Good, you're still at Genkai's. That will make things easier," Koenma said quickly.

"Make what-?" Botan was cut off by a loud _pop_.

Kelly jumped a bit while Keiko and Yukina yelped slightly. Kelly looked over to the center of the room to see that Koenma had appeared out of nowhere.

"Good! Everyone's here!" he said happily as he looked around the room.

"Yeah, diaper breath, we're all here," Yusuke said, "You wanna tell us what we're all here _for_?"

Koenma nodded. "I've been observing Kelly's training and she has come quite a long way. However, the attack that happened just two days ago concerns me. I don't like the fact that Lon has an idea where you are, Kelly," he said as he turned to look at her. She still sat on the window sill, exchanging ice cream with Hiei.

"Yeah… and?" she asked as she took another spoonful of ice cream.

"I've decided to send you to the Makai to finish your training," he told her calmly.

Kelly choked on the ice cream she was eating when she heard the news. She began to make strange noises in her throat until Hiei scooted over and whacked her on the back twice.

She coughed a few more times before she was able to speak again. "Demon World? You want me to go back to Demon World? _Why_?" she asked. Her eyes were wide with fright and she looked ready to run out of the room.

Koenma's face was full of understanding when he said, "Now, I know that you don't want to go back there anytime soon, but you'll be going with the four boys." He turned to look the boys in question over to see if his assumption was correct.

Hiei nodded, though he didn't really have a choice. He was still the girl's bodyguard. Not only that, but being in the Makai was what he wanted.

Yusuke looked at Keiko who sat next to him on an oversized armchair. She sighed and nodded. "You won't be gone long, right?"

"No, Kelly has to be back for school in less than two months," Yusuke told her quietly. "And I'll be able to visit whenever Kelly wants to visit her home. She's already gone back four times in just over one month."

He chuckled when he saw Kelly roll her eyes and mouth "whatever." He turned back to Koenma and said, "I'm in."

"Me too," Kuwabara said. He sat at the end of the couch next to Yukina.

"Oh! Be careful, Kazuma!" she said to him.

"Well of course, my sweet Yukina! I must return home in one piece if I want to see you again!" he said as he took Yukina's hand.

Kelly giggled slightly at the two and then again when she saw Hiei's annoyed face.

"I will be joining you all as well," Kurama announced. "I just need to work things out with mother, but it will be easier now that I've moved out."

Koenma nodded. "All right then. You'll be leaving in one week from today. I won't be able to provide a portal for this time however, so you'll have to use one of the rips that are in the mountains here."

"Why can't you use a portal?" Shizuru asked curiously.

"Ah, well…" Koenma began sheepishly. Botan too suddenly looked guilty.

"Spit it out!" Kelly said, impatient as ever.

"When I used the portals before that went between the Rekai and the Makai, I had permission from my father…"

"What?" Kelly asked, clearly confused.

"I can't just go opening portals into demon world whenever I want. The barrier may be down, but it is still a separate dimension. The human world is different because Spirit World has direct jurisdiction over it. My father, King Enma, gave me permission to send a team to rescue you. However, he told me I wasn't allowed to send my old Rekai Tentei. He's still upset with Yusuke. He was away when I chose to take action, allowing me to send them after all without him knowing…"

"So?"

"So… he was upset with Yusuke because he believed Yusuke to be a threat here in human world because of his demon blood…"

Realization hit Kelly. "So he views me as a threat if I'm here in human world as well?" She paused to think. "But I'm still here… what did you tell him when he got back?"

Koenma sighed then said, "I told him that I had sent you back to demon world."

"But that defeats the point of rescuing me!"

"I know… I lied… He never meant for you to be rescued. He just wanted Inoji dead before you could be of any threat. I went to Mukuro on my own in order to ensure your rescue."

"Oh… I see," Kelly said quietly as she slowly got up from the windowsill. She put her spoon in the empty ice cream pint and walked over to the doorway. "Well then, I guess I owe you a thank you, huh, Koenma? Thanks for stickin' your neck out for a hanyou like me."

"No, Kelly that's-" but Koenma was too late. Kelly was gone. It was as if she had never been there at all.

"Oh, dear. This isn't good," Botan said.

"No, I hadn't planned on her finding out. At least, not like this," Koenma agreed.

"Well, she did, so what're you going to do?" Shizuru deadpanned.

"I'll go talk to her," Botan said. "Maybe I'll be able to explain things better…"

"No," Hiei told her. She froze, already halfway across the rom. "Leave her alone. She will be upset if anyone sees her crying. She'll come down when she's ready."

Botan looked at Hiei in surprise. "You know her pretty well."

"Hn. I spent three months guarding her. I picked up a few things," he said as he turned to look back out the window.

"I'd say a little more than a few," Yusuke whispered to Keiko. She nodded then looked over at Hiei who looked more annoyed than ever as he gazed out the window.


	28. Watch the Sky

i'm sorry but this is kinda short... but its very important for this chapter to be here. You finally see Kelly's feeling on Inoji's experiment... it's sad but a relief in a way...

**disclaimer:** i dont own Yu Yu Hakusho or its characters or plot and i dont own the lyrics to Watch the Sky by Something Corporate

* * *

Facing Your Inner Demons

Ch 28: Watch the Sky

Kelly sat on her windowsill watching as the dark clouds slowly moved across the sky. It would rain soon. She and the others were lucky they had gone to the beach when they had.

She smiled through the tears that fell. She really was happy with them all. They accepted her. They didn't want her dead, didn't view her as a threat. They wanted her with them. She would never tell them, but she loved them all so much. But it wasn't like her to wear her heart on her sleeve. But still, they had saved her and she would do anything for them.

She had known the very day that she was told what she was that she would be despised and feared by some. However, she never thought that one of those people would be the king of Spirit World.

Koenma really had stuck his neck out for her. If King Enma were to find get wind of the fact that she was still in the human world, he would get in serious trouble. And from what Kurama had told her in one of his numerous stories, he couldn't afford to get in any more trouble.

She sighed and attempted to wipe the tears away, but they kept on flowing. She watched as the first drop of rain fell from the sky. It was like a match to fuel, the first drop fell and then the sky seemed to explode with raindrops.

Kelly turned slightly and took off her socks and then let her hair down. She crouched in the window seat and unlatched the window, shoving it open. She used her feet as a launch as she jumped from the window into the rainy field.

The rain easily drenched her as she landed without a sound several feet away from the temple.

Her tears mixed with the rain as she lifted her head to the sky. Music began to sound from within her and she began to sing.

"I'm lost at sea, the radio is jamming, but they won't find me  
I swear it's for the best, and then your frequency is pulling me in closer till I'm home  
and I've been up for days, I finally lost my mind,  
and then I lost my way, I'm blistered but I'm better  
and I'm home

"I will _crawl_, there's things that are worth giving up, I know, but I won't let this get me,  
I will _fight_, you live the life you're given with the storms outside,  
somedays all I do is watch the sky."

In Genkai's living room, Kurama looked up in surprise when Hiei stood up on the windowsill.

"Hiei?" he questioned.

"She's singing. Listen," she said as he opened the widow.

The music flowed into the room, not even drowned out by the sound of the rain. The notes of a piano rang prominent and filled the ears of those in the room.

The singing continued.

"This room's too small, it's only getting smaller, up against the wall,  
I'm slowly getting taller, in this wonderland, your skin feels so familiar  
and I'm home"

I'll _crawl_, there's thing that are worth giving up I know, but I won't let this get me,  
I will _fight_, you live the life you're given with the storms outside,  
somedays all I do is watch the sky, and somedays  
all I do is watch the sky."

Kurama joined Hiei on the windowsill and looked out. He could barely see Kelly through the rain as she twirled around, her arms spread wide.

"and I think I, I could use a little break  
today was a good day  
and I think I, I could use a little break,  
but today was a good day

"...and it's a deep sea, in which I'm floated, and still I sink to think that I must...

"_**crawl**_, there's things that are worth giving up I know, when you can't bare to carry me,  
I'll _fight_, you live the life you're given with the storms outside  
and somedays all I do is watch the sky  
today was a good day  
today was a good day"

The music slowly faded, the last sound being heard was a fading piano note.

The others had joined Hiei and Kurama long before the song had ended. They crowded around the window, all trying to see Kelly. They could barely see her as she stop spinning. She continued to look up at the sky as she screamed, "What the hell did I ever do to you, huh? You stupid bastard! I didn't choose to be this way, ya know! I didn't ask Inoji to fuckin' kidnap me, and turn me into a half-demon! I didn't ask him to take me away from my family and try to rape me! You think I wanted that, you fuckin' moron?! I'd go back to being human any day of the week! I fuckin' HATE YOU!"

"Oh, I could cry," Botan said sadly, her voice only a whisper.

"That would be the last thing that she would want," Hiei said without looking away from Kelly. They all watched as she slumped to the ground in a defeated way. "_Now_ we go to her."

They all jumped out of the first story window and ran to Kelly where she sat crumpled on the ground, much like she had when the four boys had gone to rescue her.

Hiei reached her first. She looked up at him and he couldn't tell if the water that streaked down her face was the rain or her tears. The others reached her and she looked at them all.

"What're you all doin'? You're gettin' wet," she told them.

"And what're you? Dry?" Yusuke asked with a snort.

"'S'not my point," Kelly murmured.

"Come now, onna. I don't want to deal with you sick," Hiei told her in a frustrated voice.

"Yeah, okay," she said. She took Hiei's outstretched hand and stood up with his help.

She started forward and the others fell into step with her. She smiled slightly. She liked the fact that they had all come out to get her.

"You know, like I said, I didn't ask for any of that stuff to happen to me, but… surprisingly, I wouldn't change it. I've accepted, in a way. I'm… glad. Because if none of that happened I never would've met all of you. Meetin' you guys is the best thing that's ever happened to me," she told them all. She turned and the others could see that she was still crying, but she had a smile on her face.

Yukina walked up and took hold of Kelly's hand and said, "We're glad we met you too, Kelly."

Kelly grasped Yukina's hand in return and her smile grew even bigger. She turned to Koenma who had not yet gone back to Spirit World.

"Thanks again, Koenma. I really owe you."

Koenma shook his head. "You owe me nothing."

Kelly looked back up to the sky when she felt the rain cease pelting her skin. The clouds had moved on, and the sun finally began to peak through.

* * *

see? she really needed that little outburst i think... she cant hold all those feelings bottled up forever.

as for the song, in my opinion, it was perfect. every single part had to do with the situation, even the whole your skin feels so familiar and im home, its mainly about hiei but it can go for any of the others shes home when shes with them

-sigh- i love something coporate


	29. Onto Demon World

Facing Your Inner Demons

Ch 29: Onto Demon World

The next week went by much too fast for Kelly's liking. The others were wary around her, but she gave them no reason to be. She was as cheerful as ever.

It was only at night did any amount of fear begin to creep up on her. Her dreams of Inoji were more frequent and vivid. Three times that week Hiei had entered her room to wake her up and stop her screaming. He never stayed, like he had before, but he would always be sure that she was calm before he left.

The day the five were to leave, Kelly barely said anything. Only when she was spoken to directly did she open her mouth to let words come out.

They all stood at the edge of the forest, saying their good-byes. Koenma walked over to Kelly and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm afraid that if you wish to visit home, you're going to have to find a way back to the Human World first. I can't send a portal to you in the Makai," he told her apologetically.

Kelly gave a weak smile and said, "Don't worry about it Koenma. Thank you for all that you've done."

Koenma nodded. "Don't be so nervous. You'll be fine."

Kelly gave another weak smile then nodded. She was afraid that if she opened her mouth again she would get sick. She had understood Koenma's reasoning behind sending her to Demon World. Lon and his men would believe that she was still in the Human World. They would never expect her to be right under their noses. Not only that, but Kelly was most likely safer in Demon World than in Human World. Mukuro and her men would protect her along with all of Yusuke's old subordinates.

And yet, she was still sick to her stomach.

Kelly focused on the soft music playing in her ears. It was Come Sail Away, the same song she had sung when she had first met Hiei. The others had quickly found that this song soothed her more than any other song. She had explained that when she was a baby, her father had sung it to her as a lullaby. She had laughed when she told them this. Only _her_ father would sing a rock and roll song as a lullaby.

Calmer now, she looked over to see Yusuke and Keiko talking quietly together. Kelly smiled. It made her happy to see them together. They were so cute and she could see how much they loved each other. She smiled again slightly as she remembered how only two days before she had gone with Yusuke to look for an engagement ring that would be presented to Keiko when they all returned from Demon World.

She shifted a bit on the large rock that she was perched on so that she was able to see Yukina and Kuwabara saying their own good-byes. She smiled once more, but her eyes were filled with sadness.

-You will not be alone forever. You will get your chance eventually.- Hiei's voice rang clear in her head.

Kelly looked to her right where he stood only a foot away from her. She mentally sighed and said nothing in return. He just didn't want her to mope. She was a pain when she did.

She turned back to see everyone approaching her and Hiei. Botan bounded over and gave her a huge hug. As usual, it took Kelly a moment to recover from the shock of being hugged. She soon relaxed and gave Botan a hug in return.

"I really am going to miss you," Botan told her, "You be careful."

"I will, and I'll miss you too," Kelly said quietly.

It was Keiko's turn next to give Kelly a hug.

"We'll have a huge party when you all get back," the brunette said, "You'll be the DJ."

Kelly smiled brightly at the thought. "I look forward to it."

Yukina came next. She didn't hug Kelly. She knew the hesitant girl too well for that. Instead, she held out a small vial with a blue liquid in it.

"It's medicine," she explained, "It can counteract most poisons and helps heal injuries faster."

"Thank you, Yukina," Kelly said, appreciation laced throughout her voice.

Genkai came forward after Yukina had moved back. She placed a hand on Kelly's shoulder and said, "Don't die out there, brat. I still owe you for the last game we played."

"I'll still wipe the floor with you," Kelly said with a smirk.

"Harsh, kid," Shizuru said from Kelly's other side. "Be safe. Look after my brother for me, will ya?"

"I will. God knows what he would do without a woman's help. Most likely forget to shower and change his clothes," Kelly said with a smile.

"Hey!" Kuwabara yelled.

"You know I'm just kiddin'."

Kelly stood and grabbed her bag filled with clothes. The four boys flanked her sides as they began to walk into the forest. She turned and gave one last wave then disappeared into the darkness along with the other four.

* * *

It wasn't very far away. They walked instead of running and still made it to the mountain cave where the tear was in only a half hour.

The five slowly walked into the cave looking around for the tear that Koenma had assured them was there.

"There!" Yusuke exclaimed.

Sure enough, about ten feet to their left was what appeared to be a red gash that ran from the bottom of the cave up to the highest point of the cavern.

"So… whatta we do? Just walk through?" Kelly asked as she walked over to observe the rip.

"Yes actually," Kurama said as he walked to stand beside her. "However, there's not telling where the rip will take us. The last time we recklessly went through an opening to the Makai, we ended up free falling from in the sky.

"Ah, yeah, that's a problem," Kelly said with a frown. "Well, what didju do when that happened?"

"I used a plant that gave me wings and carried Kuwabara and Hiei on vines. Yusuke rode on Puu."

She nodded. She had run into Puu on more than one occasion and had even become very fond of the large bird (type… thing…).

"I doubt that you can carry us all," she said, her frown deepening.

"No, I cannot."

Kelly stood in silence for a moment or two before saying, "Well, with my wind manipulation I can decrease my speed as I fall and then use it to soften my land. I can't fly, but I can at least prevent death and harm."

"Yeah, but can you carry someone?" Yusuke asked.

"Carry? I don' need to carry 'em. I just need to manipulate the air around 'em as well. I can only do it for one person though. My control is too limited."

Hiei stepped forward and said, "We'll be going first then."

Kelly wasn't surprised. She nodded then stepped into the rip, Hiei right beside her.

She grabbed Hiei's hand and said, "If we do fall, whatever you do, don' let go. If you're too far from me, I won't be able to reach you with my wind."

Hiei nodded and clasped his hand around hers. He looked to see that Kelly's face was filled with worry. He squeezed her hand, assuring her without words that she needn't worry. She would do fine. She took a deep breath as she stepped out of the other side of the rip.

The two were instantly tugged in opposite directions as they began to fall at top speeds to the desert below them. They held each other's hand tighter as they went spread eagle. They shifted so that their foreheads were touching and both hands were now clasped together.

Kelly looked at Hiei who gazed back at her. He nodded in encouragement. He watched as she changed right before his eyes. The markings of almost every demon type alive appeared on her skin as her canines grew longer and more pointed. Her hazel eyes glowed greener than normal as she called upon all the wind power she could.

She never broke eye contact with Hiei as the two began to slow. The wind became softer around them as Kelly bent it to her will. It pillowed their undersides and then rose above them, slowing them down.

The eye contact was finally broken as Kelly looked down to see the ground just below them. She shifted them with her wind so that they landed softly on their feet. She sighed with relief when she realized that she had succeeded.

Hiei watched as triumph donned her face. He chuckled but then grew wide eyed as the girl's eyes rolled back in her head.

"Onna!" he shouted in concern. He caught her before she hit the ground.

"Whew, that was harsh. I think I went _way_ beyond the whole elemental manipulation thingy," she said breathlessly. She looked up and pointed. "Looky there, they made it."

Hiei looked up and saw Kurama and his plant wings, Kuwabara and Yusuke dangling on vines. Kelly stood up slowly, but clung to Hiei's arm for support.

The other three landed softly in front of them. They barely had time to greet the other two before Kuwabara whispered, "Demons. Six of them. Approaching fast."

Kelly heaved a sigh of frustration. "They better be friendly. I will be _so_ pissed if they attacked."

Yusuke smirked and said, "You're in the Makai, Kelz. I highly doubt that they're here to invite us for tea."

"Yeah, I figured as much," she responded as her energy flared and she prepared to fight.


	30. Third Reunion

Facing Your Inner Demons

Ch 30: Third Reunion

They stood in a circle, back to back, weapons and fists at the ready.

"The onna is in no condition to fight," Hiei said quietly.

"I'm fine," Kelly said through gritted teeth.

"Kelly, your energy…" Kurama began.

"My energy is fine as well," Kelly replied quickly. Her energy began to flare in visible flames around her, as if to emphasize her point.

No one argued any further. They knew better. She wouldn't listen to them now.

She turned to survey their surroundings. They were definitely at a disadvantage. They were at the bottom of a cliff and couldn't see the demons that were approaching them.

They couldn't run either. Kuwabara couldn't run at the same speed of the other three, and Kelly would never admit it, but she was too tired to run fast enough to escape the demons. She would have to rely purely on adrenaline to fight them.

"Here they come!" Kuwabara cried.

Sure enough, a figure appeared above them. It dropped straight off the cliff. The five below were blinded by the sun and couldn't actually see the demon, but they could hear him.

"Yuuuuuuuusukeeeeee!"

"Wha-?" Yusuke began to ask, but he was cut off when the dive-bombing demon tackled him to the ground.

Kelly moved to help Yusuke but a hand held her shoulder and restrained her. She turned and gave a questioning look to Kurama who now stood beside her with a smile on his face.

"It's alright, Kelly. He's a friend. No doubt that the other five are friends as well," he told her.

Kelly blinked then looked back towards Yusuke and the demon. They were on their feet now, exchanging light punches.

"Jin!" Yusuke happily exclaimed. "What're you doin' here?"

"I should b' askin' you th' same thing!" he shouted happily. He spoke so fast that Kelly had to strain her ears to hear it all and distinguish the words.

"Yes, that is a good question," said a voice from behind them all.

Kelly turned quickly to see the other five demons standing behind them. She blanched internally. At first glance, they all looked like the oddest people she had ever seen, but from their energies, she knew that there was more to them.

Kurama smiled again and answered, "We're on a mission of sorts."

"Mission? But I thought th' babe let y'all go," Jin said skeptically. Kelly was starting to like his Irish accent.

"He did. But some stuff happened and here we are!" Yusuke responded.

"Stuff? Wha' stuff b' that?" Jin asked.

"Me," Kelly answered, "I happened."

The six looked at her in confusion. Kurama sighed beside her.

"Always one for dramatics," he said. She grinned cheekily. "Everyone, this is Kelly. Kelly, this is Jin, Touya, Chu, Rinku, Suzuki, and Shishiwakamaru."

Kelly looked them over, taking in the strange clothing and even stranger hairstyles. She was very surprised by their appearances. They ranged from the looks of a little kid to a middle aged man or so.

"Um… heyo," she said hesitantly with a little wave.

She barely had time to put down her hand when Jin moved right in front of her, barely inches away from her face. Her eyes widened as she leaned back and planned her escape.

"You're all crazy like! They're here an' there an' everywhere! An' not a single one is a match to another. Tis mighty odd," he jabbered away at her.

Kelly looked over at her four friends and said, "And you guys thought I talked funny."

"You're right, Jin," Touya said as he stepped beside his friend. He looked intently at Kelly who squirmed under his gaze. "Her markings are not from one specific demon type or clan."

Kelly took another step back and lowered her demon energy. The markings disappeared and her teeth returned to normal. She smiled slightly at the six demons' reactions to her sudden transformation.

"Well, ain't you a beaut, huh Sheila?" Chu asked.

"Wha-?" Kelly said with a slight blush on her cheeks.

She didn't get to finish her question for at that moment Shishiwakamaru appeared in front of her. Like with Jin, she tried to back up but Shishi grabbed her hands.

"Your beautifulness would greatly enhance my fan club. I would give you the honor of being president should you join," he said as he gazed into her wide eyes.

"Uh… no… thanks," Kelly managed to say.

Shishiwakamaru was about to try and change her mind but couldn't because Hiei decided to save Kelly from her embarrassment. He came as a blur that was suddenly between the two causing their hands to be dropped to their sides.

"You're making the onna uncomfortable," Hiei informed the surprised Shishi.

"Forgive me, I didn't know that she was already spoken for," he said as he looked back and forth between them.

"I'm not," Kelly said at the same time Hiei said, "She's not."

"Oh?" Shishi said with an amused expression on his face.

"Come on, Shishi, leave the poor girl alone. Hiei is right, you're making her uncomfortable," Suzuki reprimanded his friend.

Shishi sighed and stepped back.

"So what are you guys doin' here?" Yusuke asked.

"We were stayin' at your old place," Rinku piped up. "It's not that far from here. The monks let us stay since we're your friends. And they knew us from the tournament anyway."

"Right, but we felt weird energy so we came ta investigate," Chu added. Kelly chuckled a bit. So there were _two_ demons with accents. An Irish one and an Australian one.

"So it was all of you, though we didn't realize it at the time we had left the tower," Touya continued, "One energy signal wasn't familiar to us. Turns out it was _her_." He pointed to Kelly.

"Such a _beautiful_ aura," Suzuki said excitedly. "How did you manage to give off energy like that?"

Kelly shifted uncomfortably. She did not want to tell this story again.

"It's a long story, one I think she would prefer be relayed when she is not there," Kurama told them. "Why don't we head to the tower and tell it there while Kelly cools off."

"Cools off?" Rinku questioned.

"The onna is not particularly fond of hot weather," Hiei answered for her. She had long since retreated back to Yusuke and Kuwabara who stood farther behind the other two.

"Right'o," Jin said with a grin. "C'mon Yusuke! I'll race ya!"

Yusuke smiled and sped off after Jin who had already flown over the cliff. Kelly could hear them yelling to each other as they went. She turned to Kuwabara who still stood beside her.

"These demons… they're okay?" she asked quietly.

Kuwabara smiled in understanding.

"They're good friends," he told her, "They're just a little forward. They're loyal to Yusuke; they won't do anything to bug you."

Kelly nodded. Kuwabara put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed it, silently assuring her. She smiled and then pulled her iPod out of her bag where she had stashed it before going through the rip to Demon World.

"What's that?" Touya asked.

"An iPod. Get used to seein' it," Kelly answered with a smile as she passed him to catch up with Kurama and Hiei who had already started walking the way Jin and Yusuke had just left.

"What's an iPod?" Rinku asked.

"It's Kelly's drug," Kuwabara said with a laugh. He too went to joint he others.

"A drug?" Shishi asked. "What kind of girl is this?"

"I'm thinkin' we're 'bout to find out, mate," Chu answered.

And then they were gone, on their way to catch up with their old friends and new acquaintance.

* * *

so, Suzuki's name is two different ways. In the manga its the way i spelt it and in the anime it Suzuka. i went with the manga version just because i felt like it, so dont bother giving me reviews that says i spelt it wrong, please!

i just wanted to really quickly thank everyone thats read this and thank everyone that's reviewed even more. it means a ton to me! im at thirty chapters so far and im not finished yet, though i can tell you the story will end here in the Makai, kind of. thanks again end enjoy the rest of the story!


	31. Monks and Baths

Facing Your Inner Demons

Ch 31: Monks and Baths

"Welcome to the former lands of yours truly," Yusuke said to Kelly with great flourish.

After a half hour and over a hundred complaints about the heat from Kelly, they had all finally made it.

Kelly stared open mouthed at the scene before her. The city was made completely out of what Kelly compared to adobe in the Human World. She took in all the small buildings which she assumed were houses and then the larger ones, like skyscrapers. Her gaze then drifted to the open air market and all the demons milling about. Finally, she saw the tall tower that she could only assume was where Raizen and Yusuke had once lived. From the tall cliff where they all stood, she had the perfect view of everything.

"Wow," she said, unable to think of anything else to say.

Yusuke chuckled at her reaction.

"Wait," she said suddenly, "This… isn't really modern. It's _way_ cool and all that, but there's no central air is there? Not even regular air conditioning?"

Yusuke laughed. "No, not here. Maybe in Yomi's old lands, but not here," Yusuke answered.

"Shit. My hair is never gonna be the same," she whined as she ran a hand through her already frizzing hair. "I fuckin' hate heat."

The others laughed at her. She grinned slightly then sighed.

"Well, I bet it's cooler inside. To the tower, right?"

"Yup."

"Mmkay. Faster I get there, faster I can get out of this heat!" And with that, she was gone in a blur.

"Impatient as ever," Kurama chuckled.

"Fast too," Touya said in surprise. "I bet she could even rival Hiei."

"She can," Hiei answered. "I better go after her before she hurts herself, or someone else." He too was gone.

"He serious?" Chu asked skeptically.

"Very," Kurama said. "She told us that for a human, she had been very fast. Being a hanyou enhanced this. She has the ability, though not the patience, to be faster than Hiei."

"She's a hanyou?" Shishi asked in surprise. The others too looked very surprised by this statement.

"How 'bout we tell this story in the shade, huh?" Kuwabara said. "Kelly isn't the only one over heated."

Yusuke chuckled then said, "Alright, we'll go. But you _first_!" He shoved Kuwabara over the cliff they were on when he said first.

"Waaaaaahhhhhh!"

Yusuke turned to Jin. "Hey, Jin. You wanna do me a favor and catch him before he hits the ground?"

"Sure thing, Yusuke!" Jin said with a laugh before he dove off the cliff.

"Right, well we better go too. Who knows what kind of trouble Kelz has gotten herself into." They then jumped over the cliff, ready to make their way to the tower.

* * *

They had no reason to worry, however. Kelly sat patiently (well as patiently as she could) in front of the tower.

"You didn't go in?" Yusuke asked, clearly surprised.

She stood up and walked over to them, Hiei right behind her.

"Well, it's not my place. It would be rude to jus' barge in and say I was your friend, ya know?" she said with a sweet smile on her face. "'Sides, I don' know anyone in there."

"We keep forgetting that Kelly's actually a bit shy," Kuwabara said with a laugh. "'Til she gets to know you. Then she won't shut up."

The others laughed while Kelly rolled her eyes. She followed Yusuke through the front doors.

As soon as he was through he yelled, "Hokushin! I'm back! It's Yusuke! Helloooooo!"

Kelly scowled and said in an irritated voice, "Is that really necessary? That was my ear drums you just burst!"

Yusuke turned to give a smart answer but was interrupted by Hokushin who ran down the hall to greet Yusuke.

"Yusuke! We weren't expecting you until the next tournament!" he said. He was surprised but pleased as well.

"Yeah, well, Koenma sent us on one last mission and here I am!"

"One last mission?"

"Yeah… Hokushin, this is Kelly and back there is Kuwabara. I've told you about him." Yusuke pointed to the two when he said their names.

"Ah, yes! I have heard your stories of Kuwabara," Hokushin said as he shook Kuwabara's hand, "But Kelly…"

She smiled as she too shook his hand. "I'm a new friend. Yusuke will explain. But… um… I was wonderin' if I could get a bath or a shower or somethin'. That okay with you?"

"Of course!" Hokushin motioned to one of the many monks that had gathered to greet their former lord. "Take her to the female bathing room, would you?"

The monk nodded then motioned for Kelly to follow him. She waved to everyone else then gave Kurama a look to let him know that if the newcomers wanted to hear her story, now was the time to tell it. He seemed to understand for he nodded.

She turned back to follow the monk that led her away. Hiei took his place slightly behind her. The monk led them down two flights and down a long hallway with only two doors, one on either side. They stopped in front of the one on the left.

"This is the female bathing room. We don't really host many females here so you should generally have the room all to yourself," the monk informed her. Kelly nodded in understanding and gave him a thank you and he bowed slightly then left the way he had come.

Kelly turned to Hiei before she went in. "You don't have to stay out here the entire time, ya know," she told him.

"You might accidentally drown yourself," he replied with a smirk.

Kelly scowled then mumbled, "Ass-hole." She walked into the bathing room without another word.

She closed the door behind her. Seeing no lock, she rolled her eyes and held out a hand. Using what ice manipulation she had, she froze the door in place. Satisfied with her handiwork, she turned to survey the room.

The large cavern housed a natural hot spring. The water bubbled up from the corner of the room and followed through a small man-made ditch into a larger basin that served as a bathing pool then flowed out the other side through another ditch and out underneath the side wall.

On the other side of the room, opposite of the door, was a floor to ceiling mirror. It ran about ten feet down the wall. Beside the door where Kelly stood, were racks of towels and soaps.

She grabbed one of the towels and soap bars and laid them down next to the bathing pool. She undressed then slowly slipped into the water. It wasn't the cooling off that she had wanted, but it still felt nice. She drew a deep breath then dunked her head under the water.

Coming back up, she grabbed the soap and scrubbed the dirt that had accumulated from her journey off. She then used the shampoo and conditioner she had brought with her to clean her hair.

After rinsing off completely, she left the comfort of the hot water and wrapped the towel around herself. She then turned around to look in the mirror.

She sighed. She didn't understand what Hiei had seen to get himself the way he was at the beach. She wasn't particularly pretty, though she wasn't ugly either. Her skin was exceptionally pale. She didn't tan, only burnt. She was more muscular than she was thin. Her hair had gotten longer over the months that she had returned home, but it still wasn't as long as she had had it before she was kidnapped. Her complexion was okay, but never completely clear.

She frowned as she thought about her meeting with the six demon friends of Yusuke and the others. They had seemed to think she was pretty. That didn't seem right to her. She was nothing to look at. She gave another sigh then proceeded to dry off.

She dressed in shorts and a sleeveless t-shirt. She fixed her hair so that it was straight and dry and then threw it up in a ponytail, as she usually did.

After placing the soap back where she had found it and the towel in a basket she figured was meant for dirty laundery and the like, she gathered her things back into her bag and made her way to the door. Reaching out her hand, she used her powers again, this time to make the ice shatter and fall to the ground. She opened the door and walked out to find Hiei standing, already waiting for her.

She suppressed a shiver as she looked away from him. She mentally berated herself. How could just looking at him make her feel so strange?

She started to walk down the hall. Hiei fell into step beside her. He wanted to say something; he knew that there was something wrong, he just didn't know what. He knew her well enough to know that something was bothering her, but he had never seen this look in her eye before.

She saw his hesitance but merely gave him a forced smile and said, "Let's go. No doubt they wanna ask questions and get a demonstration."

Hiei nodded. Is she didn't want to talk about it, then she didn't have to.

* * *

so i decided very early on, though its only apparent now and in the end of chapter 27 ( a little bit ) that Kelly is very fast. she not as strong, or as talented, or as skilled as the others, but her speed is impressive. I had also decided what Kurama had said about her being fast as a human early on as well, when i was imagining her family and home life. all those demon genes in her, she should be fast you know? demons are fast in general so a whole bunch of demons? yeah, fast.

also i got to show that she looks down on herself a lot... important way later on


	32. Playing With the Elements

sorry sorry sorry this is a shorter chapter! my chapters seem to be getting shorter. Its cause i wrote these chapters in a notebook that had smaller pages so it threw me off i didnt know how long they were! sorry!

* * *

Facing Your Inner Demons

Ch 32: Playing With the Elements

After being directed to a large living room by one of the numerous monks roaming the halls of the tower, Kelly and Hiei wandered into the room where their companions sat waiting for them.

Kelly was very aware that she was being stared at as she and Hiei walked across the large room to take their places on the window ledge, though the window was more like a square hole in the wall. It was a smaller window than the two had usually sat on at Genkai's temple. Kelly was very aware of how close she was to Hiei. It took everything she had to not scoot over the five inches that separated them and encircle his waist with her arms and lay her head on his chest.

She took a deep breath, both to help clear her head of her temptation and to prepare herself to face the rest of the room.

"So, I assume you've told 'em everythin'?" Kelly asked, looking over to the chairs where Yusuke, Kurama, and Kuwabara sat. Her new demon friends sat on the other side of the room while Hokushin and several other monks sat on the floor along the wall opposite the window she was perched on.

Kurama nodded and said, "Yes, we did. However, it was the shortened version."

"Right… thank ya," she said with a slight sigh. She wasn't all that comfortable yet with the new faces and she didn't want them to know the extent of what she had been through.

"So you really have control over five elements?" Touya asked skeptically.

"Yuppers," she said as she hopped down from the window sill. "Guess it's time for another demonstration. You guys are lucky; the one I gave the others was crappy. I hadn't learned much at the time."

She held her hands out, palms up, one on each side of her. A fireball appeared in each hand, much like the first demonstration she had given. She then spun in a slow circle, bringing her hands down to her sides as she went. The fire in her hands left two spiral fire trails surrounding her. She closed her hands and the fireballs extinguished, but the spirals remained around her. She brought her hands up above her head and the spirals turned into a tube of fire that engulfed her body.

Some of the others were about to stand up and try to help her, but they were reassured when they did not see Yusuke or the other three get up in alarm.

Their attention was brought back to Kelly when the fire dissipated in a gust of wind that surrounded her body. The ending flames revealed that the demon markings had appeared upon her skin and her canines were more like fangs.

The wind blew in a cyclone around her, and then narrowed into two smaller cyclones that circled her arms. They slowly dwindled down until there was nothing left.

She held her hands out in front of her. Water droplets condensed in the air. She twisted her hands, bringing them to her chest. The droplets twisted along, just as her hands had until they came together to rest as a ball of water in between her hands. The ball instantly froze, only to be shattered into hundreds of tiny pieces of ice that flew through the air. Kelly held out her hands again and the flying pieces of ice stopped in midair, before they could hit anyone. With a flick of one hand, the ice pieces turned back into water and dispersed back into the air.

Kelly kept her arms extended as electricity ran up and down her fingers. The little jolts ran down her hands, arms, and met at her shoulders. The sparks then went to her sides and crossed at her waist, switching sides. They traveled down her legs and ended at her feet where they disappeared.

She smiled brightly as she held her hands out as if she were going clap. The electricity sparked between them. She quickly slapped her hands together causing the electricity to explode.

"Always go out with a bang," she said with a laugh as she surveyed the surprised looks. Hiei, Kurama, Yusuke, and Kuwabara were the only ones who didn't look surprised.

"Show off," Hiei murmured.

She chuckled as she went to sit next to him on the window again, her appearance already returning to normal.

"Yeah…" she agreed, "But it was great entertainment, wasn't it?"

"It was, but where did you get the water?" Suzuki asked.

"From the atmosphere, correct?" Touya guessed.

Kelly nodded her head and said, "I wouldn't be able to do that outside, it's too dry. It's easy to do here 'cause of the hot springs down below. The steam rises up ta here and so I jus' get the water from there. I can't control water unless I have some and I can't use ice unless I have water, my limits are too great."

"Looks like she could give you two a run for your money," Rinku said, pointing at Touya and Jin.

"No actually, I can't," Kelly countered, "I've heard about your fights and abilities from the Spirit Detectives here. You have complete control over your elements. I don't. What I showed you was about the extent of what I can do. I can do other stuff, but even what I just did was pushin' my limits."

"Still, it seems our trainin' is 'bout ta get very interestin'," Chu said.

The others nodded in agreement. The girl was definitely a force to be reckoned with.

* * *

this chapter was basically put in to move the story along and show the readers how far Kelly has progressed. I never really got show her elemental control progress before and i really wanted to. why? because its way cool in my opinion lol i so wish i could do that

not only that but Kelly loves to entertain. she would do anything to amaze people, or make them laugh, as long as it was at what she was doin, not her (she actually doenst like attention all that much. she only likes to entertain see the difference?)


	33. Training With the Six

alright, another fight scene, but this one's better in my opinion. enjoy!

Facing Your Inner Demons

Ch 33: Training With the Six

Training began the vey next day. Kelly, Yusuke and the others, their demon friends, and Hokushin and a few select monks all met out front of the tower to help Kelly with her training.

Kelly stood in the middle of the training grounds with her new demon companions in a loose circle around her. She turned slightly to survey their fighting stances but saw that they were all relaxed, unlike she was.

It was safe to say that Kelly was utterly pissed. She was woken up early in the morning by Hiei and dragged outside, barely even able to change into a loose tank top and a pair of black shorts. She then had to braid her loose hair on her way out, knowing that a ponytail would just frizz and come undone.

After being dragged outside and complaining nonstop to Hiei who just ignored her, she was told that for her training, she would have to fight the six new demons. All at once. Kelly was really not happy.

She shifted a bit, ready to spring at the sign of an attack and then turned her head, looking around at the six again. They still stood there, and she could have sworn some of them were smirking at her.

As she turned she saw Jin, Chu, Suzuki, and Rinku… no, Rinku was gone! She spun around quickly, looking for him but he was nowhere in sight. She cursed silently when she felt herself unable to move, her arms tied to her sides. Looking down, she saw yo-yos connected to the strings that bound her. She looked up to see Rinku by her side, his fingers tied to the strings of the yo-yos.

Looking the other way, she saw Touya running forward, his hand encased in ice that was shaped like a sword. She quickly concentrated her energy into her right hand to form a dagger and cut the strings with one swipe. She dodged Touya's swipe of his sword by rolling to the side.

She came back up on her one knee and shot a quick arrow of lightening at Touya and Rinku, a move that Yusuke had suggested in training back at Genkai's. The arrow hit the two who had met up to run back to Kelly. They were instantly electrocuted and fell down.

Kelly had no time to be proud, however, for Shishiwakamaru and Chu ran at her from two different directions, Shishi with his sword drawn, and Chu with his fists at the ready. Kelly held her palm out at Chu, blowing him back with a gust of wind then turned her attention to Shishi.

She parried his sword with one of her own. She forced him backwards, shoving his sword away from her own. His sword out of the way, she was able to kick him in the chest, a kick that would definitely leave a bruise.

Chu had finally gotten back up and had drawn Kelly's attention by focusing a large orange ball of energy in his hands. She barely managed to dodge it when he threw it. She then ran towards him, but found herself punched backwards by Suzuki and Jin.

She quickly regained her balance and ran back towards the two. They braced for her attack, but were surprised when she stopped short. Silver balls of energy appeared in her hands, which she then flung at the two. They dodged, but the explosion of the unstable energy caught them, causing them to be flung away from Kelly.

She barely managed to get a breather as Chu rushed out of the smoke that had arisen from the explosion, catching Kelly by surprise. She was punched in the face and landed on the ground several feet away. Chu rushed to attack again, but Kelly flung a handful of mini fireballs at him. He had to stop his attack in order to put out the flames that had quickly gathered on is shirt.

Seeing a chance for escape, Kelly quickly stood and ran away, looking around for the others. In her rushed state she didn't notice that Rinku and Shishi had found their way to her back. She turned just in time to get a face full of yo-yos. She managed to dodge the oncoming sword from hitting her vitals, but it managed to slice the top of her shoulder.

Crying out in pain, she used her advantage in speed to escape from any further attacks, but the pain was clouding her vision. She had to stop, or else fall over in dizziness. She slowed slightly, only to be caught by Touya and Jin. Touya instantly grabbed onto her sliced shoulder and pulled up on her arm. He brought his ice sword to her neck, while Jin held her other arm, his fist surrounded by wind and poised for impact.

"You're dead," Touya whispered from behind her.

Kelly swallowed then said, "Yeah… yeah I am."

Touya and Jin let go of her and backed off, knowing that they had scared her. She slumped to the ground, placing a hand over her sliced shoulder in an attempt to stop the bleeding. Her shirt was definitely ruined, just another upset to add to the list.

Her eye was swelling as well, thanks to Rinku's yo-yos and Chu's punch. She would probably also have bruises on her ribs from the punches Suzuki and Jin had hit her with.

She groaned slightly, both in pain and in frustration. She looked up when she heard footsteps in front of her. Everyone was running over to make sure that she was alright. Jin crouched down to take a quick look at her before the others got there.

"You'll b' okay, lass. You did a mighty good job, I'll say. Very impressive," he jabbered at her.

She smiled weakly to let him know she was thankful for his compliment. When the others finally got there, she could see the worried looks on their faces.

"We have to stop the bleeding," Kurama said as he knelt down next to her. He turned to Hiei. "You know where everything is."

Hiei nodded then picked Kelly up, her head lolling onto his shoulder. They were gone in an instant.

"Hiei should be able to bandage her up," Kurama assured the others.

"You're entrusting Hiei with that job?" Touya asked in surprise.

"She's most comfortable around Hiei," Yusuke answered, "We told you, didn't we? Hiei is her bodyguard. They had to spend a couple of months together. Hiei would never admit it, but the two are actually very close."

Their six demon friends and the monks displayed surprised looks at this, but did not voice any more opinions on the matter.

"That Sheila did very well though," Chu said to Yusuke, Kurama, and Kuwabara. "For fightin' all six of us, I'm surprised she lasted as long as she did."

"Yeah, she forced me to bring out my spare yo-yos. Now I gotta find replacement strings for my regular ones," Rinku complained.

Kuwabara laughed and said, "Yeah, Kelly's no push-over."

"Agreed," Shishi said with a nod, "That blow to the shoulder would have killed most other demons."

"Yes, such a _beautiful _fight that was," Suzuki added.

"Yes, well, now we just have to hope that she talks to us again. She's going to be frightfully made at us when she feels better," Kurama said with a sigh.

Such an understatement.


	34. Aftermath of the Fight

sorry, this is another short one, but it is with only Hiei and Kelly... there will be more of just the two of them again. i kinda got off track with them in order to move the story along, but it'll soon be in full swing again!

* * *

Facing Your Inner Demons

Ch 34: Aftermath of the Fight

Hiei had brought Kelly down to the female bathing room. He had left her for only one minute while he fetched a new outfit for her and healing ointment and bandages from Kurama's room.

He placed the bandages on the floor along with Kelly's new clothes and a towel, but brought ointment and soap over to Kelly who sat on the ledge of the large basin of water.

Removing his cloak, shoes, and shirt, he slid into the water and turned back to Kelly who seemed to be asleep where she sat. He removed her shoes and socks then slowly coaxed her into the water. She opened her eyes to receive an eyeful of a shirtless Hiei. If she had been dizzy before, now it was like she was on an out of control merry-go-round.

She wasn't sure if her knees gave way because of the blood loss, or because of Hiei's being shirtless. Not that it mattered though because next thing she knew, Hiei was grasping her elbows in an attempt to keep her steady.

"Onna, I need you stand up," he told her sternly.

She nodded, not trusting her mouth to convey anything coherent, and then slowly stood straight.

"Take off your shirt," he ordered

"What?!" Kelly asked in surprise.

Hiei huffed in frustration and said, "Your shirt is useless and in the way and I need to be able to clean the wound. Take it off then dunk yourself under the water."

Kelly grimaced but did as she was told. She gently peeled off her tank, allowing the entire wound to be exposed then slipped under the water. The blood temporarily washed off the wound as Kelly came back up, using her undamaged arm and hand to undo her braid. Her hair then hung in loose waves down her back.

Hiei swallowed as he took in the sight before him. Even with all the bruises and the gashes, she was still beautiful to him. A forbidden thought to be sure, and not one he ever thought would pop into his head. Her wavy hair flowed down her back and over her undamaged shoulder. He greedily raked his eyes over her torso when he saw she wasn't looking at him. He averted his eyes when he saw her polka-dotted bra, knowing that if she caught him staring she would be mad or even upset.

He took the ointment and squeezed some of it into his hand. He then brought it to Kelly's wounded shoulder and gently rubbed it over the slashed flesh.

He noticed the wince she gave and he instantly felt bad. He had hoped that the ointment would not sting or hurt her. She hissed in pain as he continued to apply Kurama's concoction to her shoulder.

"Sorry," he said quietly.

He was surprised when he saw a smile grace her lips.

"An apology from the unfeeling, uncaring Hiei? What a surprise," she teased.

"Hn. If you are well enough to be sarcastic, then you are well enough to rub this in on your own," he growled as he placed the ointment in her hand. He then lifted himself over the edge of the bathing pool and walked over to pick up the bandages. He was silently mad that she had caught this uncaracteristic display of his. It was _her_ fault he was this way to begin with!

Turning back with the bandages in his hands, he saw that Kelly no longer looked in pain, only confused.

"That is the power of Kurama's plants," he explained as he sat on the edge of the pool, "It hurts at first, but then eases the pain." He slipped back into the water and took the ointment from her. He placed it back on the side of the pool and then turned back to her so that he could start wrapping her wound.

Thanks to Kurama's ointment, she didn't flinch at all when the bandages came into contact with her wound.

"I'll have to change these before you go to bed tonight," Hiei informed her, "I also suggest that you drink some of Yukina's medicine. Not too much, you want to save as much as possible." Kelly nodded as he tied off the ends of the wrappings. "There, that should do it for now… clean up, then meet me outside."

He got out of the pool and went to pick up his cloak and t-shirt. He quickly put them on, his high body temperature having already evaporated the water on his skin. He walked over to the door and turned around to see Kelly still in the water, just looking at him. If it were anyone else, they would have blushed at the way she looked at him. But it was Hiei and so he merely kept a stoic face and said, "Hurry up. The others are worried about you." But really, he was unnerved by the llok in her eyes, the expression on her face. Unnerved... and pleased at the same time.

"Ah! Right!" she said as if she was pulled from a trance. "Sorry." She shuffled over to the side to grab the soap to wash herself with. She looked up again, but Hiei had already slipped out of the room and into the hallway.

She sighed slightly, secretly wishing that he had stayed longer. She had gotten over being shirtless. She and Hiei were close enough that she couldn't stay embarrassed for too long.

She closed her eyes, thinking back on how his hands felt against her skin. Though the ointment had stung, and his hands were calloused, his touch was gentle. Just like when he had stroked her cheek before he had kissed her...

"Ah! Bad thoughts!" she murmured with a shake of her head, almost as if literally trying to dislodge the thoughts from her mind. "It's better to forget…"


	35. Real Fighting, Or Not

Facing Your Inner Demons

Ch 35: Real Fighting (Or Not)

Kelly finished a little while after Hiei left, and met him back out in the hallway. She had dressed in the clothes he had fetched for her and her hair was still wet and in a loose ponytail at the nape of her neck. She couldn't really use her right arm because of her wound, so she was unable to blow dry and straighten her hair as she usually did.

"Where is everyone?" she asked Hiei as they climbed up the stairs to the first floor.

"Still outside. They decided to do some one-on-one matches after we left," Hiei answered.

Kelly nodded then asked, "Hey, Hiei? Do you think that later tonight, you could take me to Raizen's grave? Please?"

Hiei looked at her, confused. "Why?"

"I want to pay my respects. From what I've heard, Raizen was an amazing guy and I'd like to visit his grave. Just once, ya know?"

"No, I don't." And he really didn't. He had always thought that Raizen had died a fool. But it seemed Kelly thought differently. Then again she thought differently on almost every aspect of life.

Kelly rolled her eyes but didn't give a retort. She knew it was useless. Hiei generally won any argument they had had in the past. And they were always over stupid things, but both of them loved to defend their pride; they hated to loose.

"Can you just take me?"

"Sure, onna," he said with a sigh.

Her face instantly lit up. "Thank ya!"

They eventually ventured back out to the training grounds to find Chu and Yusuke in the middle of a loose circle of all the others. Kelly's eyes widened when she saw only their fists flying and their right foot each backed up against a knife.

"Well, it seems that the two were impatient and decided to have another knife-edge death match," Hiei said with a smirk.

"Knife-edge death match? They're not gonna kill each other, are they?" Kelly asked worriedly.

"No. They're friends, remember? They're just reminiscing on old times. Surely Kurama told you of Yusuke's and Chu's fight in the Dark Tournament?"

"Oh! Yeah, he did. I see now. This should be good! Let's go! I wanna see!"

With a nod from Hiei, the two were gone and part of the circle of demons within one second flat.

Kurama turned to his left where the two now stood watching Yusuke and Chu fight. He noted the bandages that were visible beneath the collar of one of Kelly's numerous band t-shirts. He smiled slightly when he thought of this. She had so many that he, Yusuke, and Kuwabara combined could not recognize even half of the bands.

"You've made it just in time," he whispered to Kelly, who stood directly next to him, Hiei on her other side.

"Yeah, I can see that," she said with a smile. She immediately turned her attention back to Chu and Yusuke. The two were just flying punches at each other, not even bothering to block them. She was mesmerized. She had never seen anything like it. Not only that, but the look on their faces. They were so _happy_, so determined. It was like nothing else in the world mattered at that moment. An atomic bomb could have fallen, and she doubted that they would even notice, consumed as they were in their fight.

"That is what true fighters are like," Hiei said quietly to her. She slanted her head slightly, showing that she was paying attention, but she didn't remove her eyes from the fight. "The whole world seems to disappear and nothing is left but your opponent. Those two, as well as many others of the demons here, are like this. They live for the love of the fight."

She slowly smiled at the thought then said just as quietly as Hiei, "Don't read my mind. It's rude."

He smirked. She was obviously still mad about being dragged out of bed to fight six S-class demons. Despite her anger, Hiei noticed that she still smiled at the fight that was going on in front of her.

They all watched for what seemed like forever until finally Jin grew impatient and yelled, "Oy! Hurry up an' finish! Yusuke has a line waitin' ta fight 'im, he does!"

Kelly stared in bewilderment as not only was there a match going on with fists, but now with words. Jin, Chu, Yusuke, and every once in a while another demon from the circle were shouting at each other with smiles on their faces.

"They're like little kids," Kelly murmured to no one in particular. Hiei smirked beside her.

"There is a way to end this," Hiei stated.

"Yeah, I know," Kelly said with a smirk of her own. She brought her hand to cup her mouth and then yelled, "EVRY MAN FOR THEMSELVES!"

The result was immediate. Fists, swords, whips, and energy blasts flew in every direction. Kelly and Hiei stood on the sidelines, watching the chaos ensue. Kelly shook her head then turned to Hiei.

"Alright, ready, bodyguard?" she asked as her aura flared.

"Hn. I was about to ask you the same thing, onna," he retorted with a smirk. "Just don't slow me down with that shoulder wound."

Kelly rolled her eyes then nodded to show that she would be okay. She and Hiei readied themselves, then jumped into the fray.

* * *

sorry, sorry, i know its short again! but dont worry they'll get longer soon. or at least they'll get better soon. actually the next chapter is my favorite chapter in this story, even though it's short again.

as for this chapter, i can so see these guys going all out in one big fight. maybe not so much Kurama and Hiei, but the rest i can. And evetuallt Kurama and Hiei would jump in. Of course, Hiei went in because Kelly wanted to, and the fact that he would enjoy it in the end.

i promise the next chapter is much better! like i said, it's my favorite chapter, very deep for Hiei and Kelly and very important in developing their relationship... ah! i can't wait! lol


	36. On Love and Hope

okay, here it is, my favorite chapter! i hope you all like it!

* * *

Facing Your Inner Demons

Ch 36: On Love and Hope

An hour later, the group headed back inside with various bumps and bruises and the occasional cuts and gashes.

Kelly was okay, mainly because Hiei had made sure that she was not hurt again. After all, he told her later on, she couldn't train the next day if she was too injured to do so. That statement had earned him an eye-roll and a muttered "ass-hole."

She then stalked off to the guest bedroom the monks had provided her with so that she could grab her much missed iPod. When the others had shouted that she needed to help with breakfast, she had given everyone a death glare and left. Yusuke had laughed, saying that she was still pissed about being woken up.

Another hour and a full stomach later, Kelly found herself with Hiei in front of Raizen's grave. She had snuck off, knowing that Hiei would follow. She didn't really want anyone else there besides him.

Now, as she knelt in front of the grave, she held out her hand and focused her energy. Ice formed in her hand and slowly took on the shape of a five pedaled lily. She placed the ice lily in one of the flower holes in the grave and then sat back, crossing her legs to get more comfortable.

"Won't that just melt?" Hiei asked, purely curious.

Kelly shook her head, "No," she replied. "I infused it with some of my energy. It will stay the way it is until I don't want it there or until I die."

Hiei nodded in understanding. "So, why do you think Raizen was 'amazing'?" he asked in a mock voice.

She gave him a cross look then turned her attention back to the grave in front of her.

"I jus'… find it hard to believe that he died the way he did. I mean, he died because he refused to eat the race of the woman he loved. He died for a human, for a cause he believed in, and for his love. If that isn't amazin' then I don' know what is," she answered quietly. She turned back to Hiei, a smile on her face.

"Hn. If you say so," he said in a flat voice.

Kelly sighed and said, "Maybe one day you'll understand. I _hope_ that one day you'll understand. I get what Mukuro meant when she said you just want to belong to someone. Everyone does. I do too, but I have a better understandin' of that feelin' than you do, which is why I find Raizen's life and death amazin'."

Hiei's eyes narrowed down at her. "When did Mukuro tell you that?" he asked in a tense voice.

She was not alarmed in the least as she told him, "When else? Those three days you guys stayed at Genkai's temple, 'member? We got to talkin'… and yeah."

He gave a huff of anger and frustration at her answer but said nothing else. Kelly, however, was not finished.

"You're afraid," she said nonchalantly, as if she were talking about the weather, "You do want to belong to someone, but you are afraid that you will be rejected in the end, just as you were before."

"And you're not?" he retorted, raising his voice slightly. "You are the same way."

"Yes, but I'm not runnin' anymore. Hiei, I'm afraid, but I'm not runnin' away from the fear. A wise friend once told me that it is how you deal with fear that matters. You can either face it straight on, or you can run from it. You," she said, pointing at him, "have chosen the latter. You cannot run forever, Hiei. You must face your inner demons sometime."

Hiei could not believe his ears. This girl was trying to give him advice! On how to love someone!

"Hold your tongue, onna," he managed to hiss through his anger.

She merely stood, patting down her shorts so that the dirt would come off, and walked past him, heading back towards the tower. She turned around when she noticed that he had not followed her.

She sighed then said, "Hiei, c'mon! You know you're not mad at me! How could you be mad at someone with a face as cute as mine?" She smiled brightly at him.

He slowly calmed down, knowing she was right. Not about the cute face part, but that he could never be mad at her for long. She was too innocent, too pure. She always meant well. She was completely opposite of him, and yet exactly the same. Closed, untrusting, and yet there was always hope in their hearts. Hope that, one day, they would find someone who really loved them.

It was a thought Hiei would never tell anyone. Not Mukuro or even Kelly. But the hope was definitely there, and as he took Kelly's outstretched hand, the hope became even brighter.

Maybe, just maybe, there was hope for the both of them. Maybe, one day, they wouldn't have to be afraid anymore. Maybe one day in the future, once Hiei's bodyguard duties were over, they could meet again. Maybe they would be the same, or maybe one would be different.

Kelly squeezed Hiei's hand then let go and ran for the tower, yelling to him that they should race. Hiei ran after her. He would not stand to loose.

No, Hiei knew, when they met again, they wouldn't be able to recognize one another.

* * *

this is my favorite chapter mainly because it shows how Hiei really is. kinda like in chapter... 13 i think it is. But this runs so much deeper. i liked it as an author do... mainly cause i thought i did a good job on it... not to be full of myself or anything...

but i've always seen Hiei like this. how he says hes never had the joy of being loved and how Mukuro said he just wanted to belong to somebody... so this is kinda a reflection on that and how Kelly sees it and how shes helped him with it

just so you know, the last part does not mean that he and Kelly wont end up together, then again it doesnt mean they will either... you'll just hafta wait and see!


	37. Moving On

okay this one's a little longer! enjoy!

* * *

Facing Your Inner Demons

Ch 37: Moving On

Training continued as usual, but now Kelly wasn't the main focus of it. Everyone was focusing on getting better. The demon tournament was coming up in a year and a half and they all had to be ready, except for Kurama and Kuwabara.

Kelly was surprised when she heard that Kurama would not be participating in the upcoming tournament.

When she asked him about it he responded with, "I'm living my life as a human now. This is the path that I'm taking and I plan on continuing down it. I cannot stray from it now."

"Yeah, but you're still a demon," Kelly argued.

"In a _human_ body," Kurama replied with a smile. Kelly gave a huff of frustration.

"Fine, fine. I can respect that. But if you're gonna live as a human then you at least need ta get yourself a girlfriend." Kelly laughed when she saw Kurama's surprised face. "Oh, come _on_, Kurama! You need to live a little! Get out there and find yourself a girl! Don't tell me you haven't thought about it."

Kurama had a slight blush on his face when he said, "No, I have. But like you said, I'm a demon."

"In a _human_ body," she replied with a smirk. "With human needs." She winked at this last part.

"Kelly!" Kurama shouted. She merely laughed and ran out of the room the two and Hiei were talking in after training that day.

Hiei chuckled from the windowsill he lounged on. "Calm down, fox. You only get mad because she speaks the truth."

Kurama pinched the bridge of his nose and said, "She should understand, though. She is in the same predicament as I am; only hers is more… complicated."

"She does understand, which is why she is pushing you," Hiei said, looking back out the window. "As for her… she's too laid back and lazy to think much of it."

Kurama shook his head. "That's where you're wrong," he told Hiei. Hiei turned to look at him, surprised barely etched on his face. "She thinks about it quite a lot. And it's your fault that she does."

"Are you accusing me of something, fox?" Hiei asked with narrowed eyes.

Kurama sighed before he said, "You know what I mean."

Hiei scowled. "The onna will get nothing from me."

"She already has, Hiei," Kurama said softly. Hiei said nothing and suddenly became very interested in his hands which rested in his lap. "Shouldn't you go find her? Who knows what kind of trouble she could be getting into?"

"She went to look for Jin or Rinku," Hiei informed him. It was true. Kelly had let Hiei know telepathically before she left.

"My point exactly," Kurama said with a chuckle.

Kelly had become fast friends with the six demons, but she had taken a particular liking to Jin and Rinku. They were like little kids whenever they were together. Kelly had claimed that they reminded her of her siblings, and so it was like she was back home whenever she was around them.

As for getting in trouble… well… there were many incidents where most of the others had not been happy. Like the time Jin and Kelly blew everyone over in the training grounds. Their combined wind power was too much for the others to handle, and they were sent sailing across the grounds. Another time, Kelly and Rinku had used Rinku's yo-yo strings as a means to trip people going through doors and causing them to fall flat on their faces. Then there was the time all three of them had been involved. Jin and Kelly had catapulted Rinku into the training grounds hitting Chu right in the head, causing him to fall back and land on Touya who fell on Yusuke who fell on… well, you get the picture.

But other than that, the others were very fond of Kelly. They loved to listen to the songs that she often sang. They had run into her more than once when she had used her strange power of emanating music from her body. It was the right way to pump them up before training, or a nice way to soothe them afterwards. Kelly had been shy at first, immediately stopping the music when she realized the others were listening. But she got over it quickly and soon she was singing all the time.

As Hiei went to search for Kelly, he expected to find her entertaining someone as always. The onna was meant to perform in some way, but she had never displayed any want to pursue a career in it. When her family asked her what she wanted to major in college, she always answered that she didn't know.

Hiei finally came to the kitchen where Jin, Touya and Chu sat at the table discussing the training that they had done earlier that morning.

"Have any of you seen the onna pass through here?" he asked them. They looked up and shook their heads.

"Nah, mate. Sorry. She's not with Rinku either. He went to wash off not tha' long ago," Chu informed him, slurring his words slightly. He had already opened a bottle of some sort of alcohol, his routine for after training.

Hiei nodded and left. He struggled to think of where she would be. She had told him she was going to look for Jin or Rinku. She wasn't one to lie either.

He made his way to Kelly's room which was on a floor all of its own, mainly because the third day there at the tower, she had run into several scantily clad demon males. She had immediately asked for her room to be moved, not that anyone blamed her. It kind of was a shocker for her.

Hiei knocked on her door, knowing that if he just walked in, she would have a fit. When he didn't get an answer, he slowly opened the door and stuck his head in.

She wasn't there, but a mess was. Books were strewn everywhere, the mattress to the bed was halfway off the bed frame. Looking to the left, Hiei could see spikes of ice lodged into the wall. And to top it all off, her iPod lay on the floor by the side of the bed. She would never, _ever_ leave it behind like that.

Hiei immediately raced to the window and looked out. There was nothing.

Hiei strained his Jagan eye to go as far as he could. There! About fifty miles outside of Raizen's old city was what appeared to be a building of some sorts. Looking further her saw that the building led to an underground base and at its top level was Kelly in the arms of some demon. She had another collar around her neck that seemed to be draining the energy out of her. Hiei probed her mind to find that she had let down all her barriers; some good quick thinking on her part.

-Onna.-

-Hiei?- Her voice was weak.

-Don't worry. We'll come get you.-

-It's Lon. Hiei it's him. He was here the whole time.-

-I see that. You can't panic. You have to stay calm.-

-I know. I'm trying. But Hiei, I'm scared. And they put another collar on me. It hurts. And it's making me weak.-

-I know. I'm coming.-

-I know… thank you…- The connection went blank and Hiei was left seeing the unconscious girl as she was carried away by the demon Hiei came to know as Lon.

Hiei went back to where Kelly's iPod was still laying on the ground. He picked it up and wrapped the ear buds around it, just as he had seen Kelly do so many times before. He pocketed it, keeping it safe so that he could give it back to her when he found her.

He _would _find her. He _would_ rescue her. He made a fist with his right arm and punched at the door frame, causing it to crumble to pieces.

He would make Lon scream in agony for ever taking away something that belonged to him.

* * *

and so we get the exciting part! lots of fun stuff going on now! lol


	38. Hiei's Light

Facing Your Inner Demons

Ch 38: Hiei's Light

Hiei made it to the room where he had left Kurama in under a second. Kurama looked up from the book he was reading in alarm when he felt Hiei's energy flaring.

"Hiei? What-?" Kurama began to ask.

"He got her!" Hiei cut him off. The fire demon was seething with rage, his energy visibly sparking around him.

Kurama didn't need to ask questions. He jumped up, discarding his book on a table.

"You stay here and calm down. You cannot let your anger cloud your judgment. I will get everyone and bring them here," Kurama said quickly. Hiei reluctantly nodded and Kurama left.

Hiei walked over to the window he had sat in just minutes before. He took a deep breath of air that blew in through the window and tried to calm down. Kurama was right, as always. He would make a mistake in his anger.

But it was his fault. She must have telepathically called for help, but he didn't hear it because he was too preoccupied with his conversation with Kurama. His mind wasn't open enough to hear any pleas for help.

Not only that, but he should have followed her out when he left. He always stuck to her like glue. But he had gotten too comfortable with the inactivity of Lon. He had just assumed that she would be okay. Lon would never dare to attack the tower directly.

What a fool he had been.

Using his Jagan eye again, he looked for Kelly. He growled when he saw where she was.

Her unconscious form lay on a stone ledge that connected to the dirty wall that made up one side of a cell. The cell was dark and most likely freezing considering how far underground it was. She still wore the collar, but it was now connected to a chain on the wall, slightly above her. There was no sink, no toilet, only the small ledge she was on. The only entrance to the cell was through the door in the middle of the bars that made up the front wall.

If Hiei had been angry before, now he was enraged. He took another deep breath. This wasn't helping him. He cut off the Jagan. He didn't want to leave her, but he really did need to calm down.

He went and sat on the seat Kurama had just vacated. He cradled his head in his hands and sighed. How could he have let this happen? To her, of all people? She was meant to be free, not caged up like an animal. She wasn't meant for cages and darkness and chains. Not her. She deserved the light.

Hiei couldn't understand why he felt the way he did. This sudden emotion flooded him. It felt like someone had stabbed his chest. Like he had gotten the wind knocked out of him, and the air wouldn't come back. All because she wasn't there, because she wasn't safe.

His light was gone. Taken away with the only person he cared for more than his sister and himself.

* * *

Kelly slowly regained consciousness and opened her eyes only to have them immersed in darkness. She struggled to sit up, groaning slightly. Her back was stiff and her butt hurt, but her head was the worst. Pain was shooting through her temples then meeting at the base of her neck. Not a pleasant feeling.

Holding out a cold palm, she mustered what little energy the collar around her neck allowed for and created a small fireball. The tiny flame enabled her to see around the cramped cell she was in and provided her with some warmth. For the first time in her life, she wished she was out in the hot sun. It was so _cold_ here.

She brought a hand up and fingered the collar around her neck. Following the collar around, she felt the chain that was there. She turned her head and noticed that it went into the wall behind her.

He had actually chained her up!

The panic began to set in as she gazed around. There was nothing. Nobody. Just her and her cell.

-Hiei!- She tried to contact him in desperation. –Hiei! Please be there!-

A moment, and then… -I'm here.-

Kelly had never felt so relieved in her entire life. Not even when she found out she was being rescued from Inoji.

-Oh, God, Hiei. I'm so glad you're there.- The tears then flowed down her cheeks. She was so happy to hear his voice.

-We're coming, onna. We've all left already. We'll be there soon.-

-I know… but don't leave, okay? I'm… I'm really scared. I want to hear you.-

There was a pause.

-Don't worry. I won't leave. Not yet, at least. I have to concentrate on getting you out so I can't keep the contact once we reach the base.-

She was upset, but she understood. –Okay… but until then I want to hear about your fight with Bui. Please?-

She knew that wherever he was, he was smirking.

-Alright… Bui began by creating an enormous axe in his hand…-

Kelly rested her head back against the wall and closed her eyes, keeping the fireball close to her chest as she listened to Hiei's voice. She knew, she just knew, that everything would be okay. As long as he was there, she would be okay.

* * *

um... so i might have a problem getting chapters up this week. my parents are like insanely strict and i forgot to clean my kitchen floor and they told me that i had to go to bed right after work every day this week. like a seven year old. when im seventeen. yeah... after work which is when i update. but my dad's very forgetful so maybe he'll forget. i dunno. ug im gonna go sit in a corner and like cry at how pathetic my life is.

anyway hope you enjoy it so far! yeah...


	39. Getting Started

my dad forgot! yay me! well he forgot today at least... i dunno bout tomorrow...

anyway this ones longer not much longer but still longer. and more exciting! omg im like getting myself pumped up. lol

* * *

Facing Your Inner Demons

Ch 39: Getting Started

-We're here. I have to go now.- Hiei told Kelly.

She still sat in her cell, her head still against the wall, her eyes closed. She opened them when she heard Hiei tell her the one thing she didn't want to hear. She knew it meant that he would get her soon, but she didn't want to be alone.

-Okay…okay, yeah. I know.-

-You will see me soon.-

-I know I will. Be careful.-

-Hn. Who do you think you're talking to? I will be fine.-

-Of course. How stupid of me. Oh! Hiei! About Lon!-

-What, onna?-

-He's a psychic demon. He can move things with his mind and he creates psychic waves.-

There was a pause. Kelly figured that he was telling the others her news on their enemy.

-Alright. We'll prepare.-

-Right… Hiei…- She paused. She had almost told him that she loved him. There was no way that she could do that. Not yet at least. Not until she found out…

-Onna?- Hiei interrupted her thoughts. He couldn't read her mind because she was too far away; only contact her, so he couldn't tell what she was thinking.

-Ah! Sorry… just please be careful. Don't take any risks.-

-I'm sure the others will agree with me when I say that you're worth the risks.- And then the contact was lost.

She could feel the heat flush her face. There was no way he said that to her. Hiei would never say that to her.

But then again, maybe he would. He was so different from when she had first met him, and yet he was still the same man she fell in love with.

She closed her eyes again and turned his words over and over in her head to give her strength. She would need it for what she was about to do.

She extinguished the fireball in her hand and then brought both up and placed them on the collar. She drew what little electricity she could and small sparks ran up her fingers and into the collar. It wasn't a lot of power, but it was enough to short out the power of the collar. The small fuse was blown and the collar dropped uselessly to the ledge she sat on.

The energy flowed back into Kelly as the warmth the fire element provided drove the cold away.

She walked to the door and peered into the lock. It was a simple one that she could make short work of. Bringing her right pointer finger up and placing it over the opening to the lock, she concentrated her demon energy. She shoved the energy into the lock and made it solid, much like she did with the weapons she created. She turned her finger and the door swung open. Why wouldn't it? She had an exact copy of the key, after all.

She walked out and down the hallway towards the stairwell. She had to meet up with Hiei, no matter what.

* * *

Hiei meanwhile stood about a hundred yards away from the entrance to the underground base. Using his Jagan, he surveyed the numerous floors. There was no surveillance. Lon wouldn't need it with his psychic powers. He would know when they entered the base. However, there were a lot of guards roaming around, to take care of intruders so that he wouldn't have to.

He relayed what he saw to Kurama, Kuwabara and Yusuke who stood behind him. All the others stood a little bit further behind, talking amongst themselves. Going back to the base, Hiei went to take one last look at Kelly, just to make sure she was okay. But she wasn't in her cell.

"Hn."

"What is it?" Kurama asked from Hiei's left.

"I don't know whether to be proud of the onna or mad at her for making this harder," he answered.

"Whatta ya mean?" Yusuke asked from Hiei's other side.

"She escaped. We're going to have to get her before a guard, or worse, does."

"Well, she's never been one to wait for someone else to get stuff done," Kuwabara said with a laugh.

"Yes, but now we have two targets," Kurama said with a sigh. "Before, all we had to do was to get to Lon and take care of him first. _Then_ we would have gone and gotten Kelly. Her escape complicates things a bit."

"We're going to have to split up," Hiei said, "One group after Lon and one after the onna."

Kurama nodded. "Yes, that does seem like the only option. We should make the group that goes after Kelly smaller… we'll need all the power we can against Lon."

Hiei nodded in agreement. Kurama was right when he said her escape complicates things. But he had been right in more ways than one. Hiei now had to choose which group to go with. He wanted to rescue his charge, but he also wanted to inflict as much pain upon Lon as he could. He argued with himself over and over again in his mind and finally came to a decision.

"I'll go with the group to get the onna," Hiei said, "But you three will go after Lon. I know that you will do a _sufficient_ job."

Yusuke and Kuwabara ginned while Kurama nodded. The three were just as angry as Hiei was. Lon would never make it out alive and his death would most likely be slow and painful.

They went back to the others to tell them of their plan. They all agreed, and the groups were easily chosen. Hiei, Jin, and Rinku would go after Kelly while the rest went for Lon and any guards along the way.

"Alright, Lon is on the east side of the third floor in," Hiei informed them all, "There are several guards positioned at random points. None too strong, but still worth our time. The onna is currently on the west side making her way to the fifth floor in. There are a total of six floors. The onna is not in any danger right now. She's being cautious and has managed to avoid several guards, but she won't be able to keep it up."

The others nodded in understanding. They would have to be quick and dirty. That, they could handle. Easily.

"Let's go," Hiei said. And they were off.

* * *

Kelly was lucky so far. The guards Lon had posted were slow and dumb. With her superior speed and stealth, she easily slipped past the ones on the floor her cell was on and she was almost to the stairwell that would lead her to another level higher. She wasn't sure how many floors there were, but it didn't matter. She just had to keep going up.

She smirked slightly as she hid behind a corner. Hiei must've figured out already that she had escaped. And he was probably mad. But it wasn't like her to just sit tight and wait to be rescued. Besides, her ass would've gone flat on that ledge.

A guard passed by as she hid in the shadows and she quickly ran in opposite direction, towards the stairs at the end of the hallway. She dashed up them and came to a stop at the top step. She hid behind the entranceway and peeked around the side to look for any oncoming guards. From what she could see, there were none.

The room was huge. There were what appeared to be computers (the demon kind) stationed on metal desks. They whirred and whizzed, but the screens were all blank.

Kelly cautiously stepped forward and looked around. Still no one. Maybe the guards were all too stupid to be around computers. Lon would probably have to replace them every week because of them being broken by some dumb-ass guard who couldn't keep his power in control.

Still looking around for any guards, Kelly ran towards the opposite wall where the exit was. She stopped halfway when she heard a huge explosion come from the floor above her. She really didn't like the sound of it. She needed to get out of there and the only way she could was by going up.

She didn't get to decide what she would do because she was suddenly grabbed from behind.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" a guard asked, his arms encircled just below her chest. "A pretty little half-breed lost her way? Why don't I help you back to your cell? Hell, I could even stay a little while, have some fun."

Why was she always stuck fighting the pervy and annoying demons?

* * *

alright! we are in full swing now! haha the end of this chapter makes me laugh only because i said ass and dumb-ass. i generally try not to curse in the actual story, only with what the characters say. but this was kelly who was thinking all this so of course shes gonna cuss cause thats just what she does. i felt so weird writing it but when i read it it made me laugh. dont ask me why i just found it funny. then again my OC makes me laugh in general because shes just so... i dont even know how to explain it. im just glad i created a character that i actually like because i have created characters before that ive hated (but go along with the story).

anyway... thanks to everyone whos reviewed! i forgot to mention that thanks to SilverFangCracker i have 100 reviews! never thought i would get anywhere close to that so thanks to everyone who ever reviewed!


	40. Hugs and Fights

this is a little later than normal, but i still made time to update! remember how i said i had relatives from philly and thats why i chose that accent for Kelly? well they took me to a Phillies game today which is why i am a little late. i was so excited i was like Kelly must've been here! lol i felt like such a dork but it was so cool imagining her there yelling along with the rest of the crowd lol.

* * *

Facing Your Inner Demons

Ch 40: Hugs and Fights

Hiei smirked as he, Jin and Rinku practically flew down the steps to the fourth floor where they sensed Kelly's energy. It was all too easy. Yusuke had definitely distracted Lon from focusing on Kelly. The detective had shot his spirit gun into the wall of the room Lon was in, enabling the three going after Kelly to make a quick get away.

The smirk vanished as he saw the state the girl was in. She really did attract trouble (even if she was the one that caused the trouble in the first place).

At the moment, the trouble came in the form of five guards who had surrounded her. Two other guards were already unconscious on the ground on either side of her. They were all stupid, but strong, most likely hired because they didn't ask questions but were able to crack heads.

The three didn't even think, they were gone in the blink of an eye and the five demons were down in just as much time.

Kelly turned, having yet another blinking fit, and surveyed the five dead demons bleeding on the floor.

"Over kill, much," she murmured to nobody in particular. She looked up when she heard two very familiar laughs. "Jin! Rinku!"

She was caught in two hugs as her friends embraced her.

"Had us scared half ta death, ya did," Jin said as he ruffled her hair.

"Yeah! We were all freaking out when we found out you were kidnapped!" Rinku informed her. He hung from her back, his arms laced around her neck and under her chin.

"Ha ha! Alright, alright, offa me!" she said with a laugh. Rinku let go and Jin backed up, giving her some breathing space. "Where are the others?"

"They're busy."

Kelly turned around when she heard Hiei's voice.

"We had to split up. And it's a good thing we did too. If we hadn't you might ha- oof!"

He was cut off by Kelly's body colliding with his own. She wrapped her arms around to his back and buried her face in his neck.

"For once in your life, could you not make a smart-ass comment and just enjoy being in my presence?" she muttered into his neck.

"Look who's talking," he replied as he wrapped his own arms around her. He leaned his head against hers and whispered into her ear, "I'm glad you're okay."

He felt the smile form on her lips against his skin.

"Did you get hit in the head or something? You just said something sentimental."

Hiei chuckled. Kelly's smile widened as she heard the chuckle reverberate from his throat. She nuzzled against his skin. "I'm so glad you're here, Hiei. I was so afraid that I wouldn't see you again. I wanted to say good-bye," she said in a voice so quiet that Hiei had to strain his ears to hear it.

"Good-bye?" Hiei repeated the word, knowing fully well what she meant, but wanting her to explain anyway.

But she didn't get the chance. A loud boom came from upstairs. Kelly pulled away from Hiei and both looked upwards.

"Fuck," Hiei said.

"What is it?" Kelly asked. Rinku and Jin walked up behind her. They had waited patiently for the two to finish their reunion (though there were many snickers issued from them).

"The others have taken the place of the onna."

Kelly's face fell. "They were captured?"

"Unfortunately," he replied, still looking up. His Jagan eye was glowing, have not been covered up since he had found out Kelly was kidnapped. "And, he's transported them to the first floor."

"Fuck," Kelly said.

"Exactly," he said, finally looking back down.

"Well, we have ta go rescue 'em then!" Jin said.

"But Lon's on the way there! We'll never get by him!" Rinku pointed out.

"Or, he could find us first," Kelly said, pointing behind Jin and Rinku. They turned to find a demon with blue hair cropped short just below his ears. He had pale skin, paler than Kelly's even. He was about as tall as Jin and just as muscular. But it was his eyes that stood out above all else. They sat above high cheek bones and a sharp nose. The silver-gray irises seemed to pierce through everything they looked at.

Lon smiled as he looked at Kelly. She stepped back, unnerved by his gaze. Hiei instantly flanked her side.

"Well, well. Hiei, the forbidden child and wielder of the Jagan eye," Lon said as he turned his gaze to Hiei. "I am honored that you would choose my home as your final resting place."

"Stupid. Hiei would never be defeated by you," Kelly spat angrily at her kidnapper. "And neither will I, for that matter."

Lon chuckled as Kelly's energy flared around her and she went into a fighting stance. "Sorry, but right now, I have no interest in you or your friends." When he saw Kelly scowl he added, "Oh, don't worry, my dear. I'll get to you eventually. But right now, I want to see who is stronger, me or Hiei. My psychic abilities against his Jagan eye."

He held his hand out and Kelly, Jin and Rinku were sent flying backwards and hit the wall behind them.

"Don't expect them to get up any time soon," Lon told Hiei, "I hit them with a very special attack of mine. It affects demons' minds and it won't go away until I die."

He charged at Hiei, prepared to strike, his claw-like hands stretched out. Hiei didn't move. He didn't need to. Lon stopped short, a green glowing sword pointed at his throat.

"Sorry, but my mind is completely human," Kelly said with a smirk. She stood with her arm outstretched holding a short sword she had made with her energy. "A little setback of Inoji's, but it came in handy after all, huh?"

"So it seems," Lon said through clenched teeth.

Hiei stepped forward, beside Kelly. "Now, before we kill you, we have a few questions for you."

* * *

yup! i made her mind human just for this reason! i had planned both the begining and the end the very moment i picked up my pen to start the story! i was so excited when i finally started to write this chapter. i wanted it to just be Hiei and Kelly, so i needed a way to get rid of the others. but then there was Kuwabara who also had a human mind, so i split everyone up!

hehehe as i said before, i can so see Kelly at a baseball game, but i think she's more of a hockey type girl. remember the pull string bag, the orange and black one? it's for the flyers, the philadelphia hockey team. hockey's a lot rougher, and the fans are more intense than baseball or basketball (not football i dont think) she would so be on her feet when they start getting in fights lol

o yeah, please no reviews bashing the phillies or the flyers. please, this is a fanfic not a sports forum! it was because of Kelly! think of her! lol


	41. The Final Battle

and it's finally here! the fight this whole story has been leading up to... that and what will happen with Hiei and Kelly, but that wont be answered just yet...

* * *

Facing Your Inner Demons

Ch 41: The Final Battle

"Questions?" Lon asked with raised eyebrows.

"Yeah," Kelly said through clenched teeth, "Like first, how come you paid Inoji to create me, huh? Why didn't you jus' enter that tournament on your own?"

"Why?" Lon repeated with a laugh. "Because I didn't want to, that's why! Why should I get my hands dirty when I could just get someone else to? And then, when they won, I would just tell them what to do. My psychic powers are powerful enough to control whatever weak minded fool Inoji created for me."

"You sonova bitch!" Kelly screamed, "I'll show you who's weak minded!" She dispersed her sword and rushed forward. Lon didn't even try to block her punch as her fist made impact with his face.

Lon was sent flying backwards and crashed into one of the many computers in the room. Kelly stood where she had hit Lon, seething in anger.

"Get up!" she yelled. "You're not hurt! I ain't that strong!"

A laugh could be heard from the rubble where Lon laid. He slowly sat up, still laughing. Lifting a hand, he wiped away the blood that trickled from the corner of his mouth. "You're right," he said once he had finished laughing. "You're not that strong. I paid Inoji all that money for a failure."

"FAILURE?!" Kelly screamed at the top of her lungs. "Look at me! I'm a livin' breathin' half-demon! And not even a natural born one! I can control five freakin' elements, create barriers and weapons, and I have amazin' energy and strength! And I'm a failure?!"

Lon stood and smiled. "Yes, you have great power, it's true. But were you to be entered into the tournament, you would never win."

"Then why the hell did you bring me here?!"

"Well I didn't know all that until I did bring you here. I had to find out. And now that I have, it's time to get rid of you. Ionji wouldn't like for a failure to live on. He should have disposed of you when he had the chance."

"I'LL KILL YOU!" Kelly screeched as she again lunged at Lon. But to her surprise, Hiei was already there, his sword in Lon's shoulder. He released a cry of pain when Hiei twisted his sword in the already bleeding shoulder.

"I'll make you pay for all the pain you've caused her," Hiei said as his energy flared around him and he looked down at Lon with cold, bloodthirsty eyes.

Lon gave a cough-like laugh, splattering blood from his mouth over his shirt. "Why are _you_ made, Hiei? This little shit shouldn't be important to someone like you. Unless… don't tell me you're sleeping with the bitch. Please, someone of your stature can get someone much better than her to share your bed with."

Hiei's fury got the better of him. He took his sword out of Lon's shoulder and swung it at his head, yelling in rage as he did so. Kelly too had begun another attack.

But they both swung at nothing. Lon was standing just a few feet away. Holding out two hands, he sent a psychic blast at them. Hiei managed to ward it off with his Jagan eye, but Kelly took the full blow. She cried out and was again flung backwards.

She waited to feel the hard wall hit her back again, but it never came. Hiei caught her, wrapping his arms just below her chest. He managed to hit the ground before impact with the wall.

"Thanks," Kelly murmured as Hiei let go. He nodded and the two stood up to face their opponent once more.

Lon was very fast, but so were Kelly and Hiei. It was true that Kelly was nowhere near as strong as Lon, but both she and Hiei knew that she _was_ faster.

"Ready?" Hiei asked his sword at the ready.

Kelly created another short sword in her right hand. She nodded and said, "Go left."

Hiei nodded in understanding. They were gone and to Lon in less than a second. They swung their swords at the same moment. Lon was able to catch Hiei's sword, but Kelly's sliced down his back. Still, it was better than being sliced by Hiei's sword, which was longer and an all around better sword than Kelly's. She had created a short sword because it was lighter, and therefore faster.

Kelly smirked and pulled back and swung again. She was too fast for Lon. He was still preoccupied with Hiei and so he didn't have time to turn around and stop her. Her sword caused a second gash in Lon's back. He cried out and let go of Hiei's sword, kicking him away. Lon turned to strike Kelly, but she was too fast. A silver ball of energy exploded in his face, sending him flying backwards.

Hiei dashed forward, already recovered from Lon's kick. Kelly had sent Lon sailing towards him. He was able to stab Lon through his other shoulder.

Lon grabbed the end of the sword that poked through his shoulder and spun around to face Hiei, who had lost his grip on his sword. Lone used his telekinesis to send a computer at the fire demon. He jumped backwards to dodge the flying object, but when he landed, Lon was already gone.

Hiei's sword in hand, Lon lunged back to a surprised Kelly. She was able to use her sword to parry Lon's swing, but he was able to swing Hiei's sword and disarm her. The sword disappeared in midair, no longer having Kelly to keep the energy intact.

Hiei finally made it forward to get back into the fight, only to find that he was too late. His own sword was sticking out of Kelly's stomach. His whole body went numb. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. His brain slowly shut down, almost as if to protect him from any thoughts.

He watched as Kelly merely smiled ruefully though the blood that poured from her mouth. She placed her hand on the sword impaled through her and summoned her ice energy. Ice traveled quickly up the sword and caught Lon by surprise. He was frozen to the sword, and the sword was frozen to Kelly. Lon had nowhere to go.

"Go to hell, you bastard!" she growled before encasing her hands in fire. The fire elongated and sharpened into two points to form two fire swords. She plunged them into Lon's chest, setting him ablaze and forming two gaping wounds at the same time.

The ice around Hiei's sword broke, as did Lon's hold on it. He fell back, dead before he hit the ground.

Kelly staggered backwards, no longer having anything to keep her steady. She smiled through her pain. _She was finally free_.

It was with this thought that she fell and landed on her side.

Hiei's eyes widened. She was bleeding everywhere. He slowly moved forward, convinced that at any second she would get up and run to him with a wide smile on her face, that glow in her eyes whenever she saw him. He was convinced that she would be okay. That this was all a joke. A sick, sick joke. There was no way she would be lying there bleeding. Not her.

But she didn't get up.

"Kelly!" he shouted as he finally ran to her.

* * *

dun dun dun. what's gonna happen? you'll hafta wait until tomorrow to find out! lol. all i can say is what i said in a response to a review. i dont like killing off my characters but that doenst mean i wont. but i really am not fond of it, but you never know!

i can tell you though that next chapter will reveal what will become of Hiei and Kelly's relationship... omg im excited lol i really am a dork


	42. Goodbye My Best Friend

Facing Your Inner Demons

Ch 42: Goodbye My Best Friend

"Kelly!"

When Hiei reached her, her eyes were open.

"You said…my name," she whispered.

He knelt down beside her. "You have a sword sticking out of your gut, and you're focused on my saying your name?" he asked, trying to remain calm and like himself.

She smiled up at him. "It's the…first…you've…ever said…it," she managed to get out.

"Kelly!" Jin and Rinku shouted. They had regained consciousness after Lon's death.

Hiei looked up at them. "Get the fox, _now_," he ordered.

They didn't protest, only left as fast as they could.

"Kurama will have a plant to help you," Hiei said, stroking her hair out of her face. "I won't be able to take the sword out until then."

Kelly nodded and closed her eyes. His hand felt good against her skin. She opened her eyes again when she felt Hiei's hand elevate her head and place it gently in his lap. She closed her eyes once more as he began stroking her hair again. They sat like that for a few minutes until Kelly broke the silence.

"The fire…I did it…because of…you," she croaked out.

"I thought so," he said back quietly. He watched as more blood slowly came from her wound. Where was Kurama? What was taking those two so long?

Almost as if she sensed his discomfort, Kelly said quietly, "Don' worry… I won't…die just yet…I have…to find out…" She trailed off.

"Find out what?"

"You'll see…" She held out her hand, searching for one of Hiei's. He grasped it and held on tight, hoping that if he held tight to her hand, she would hold tight to her life.

"Hiei?"

"Yes?"

"No matter…what happens…I'm happy…that you were…my body…guard."

"Me too," he whispered. It wasn't even a lie.

"Hiei?"

"Yes?"

"…I want you to know…I consider you…a best friend…even if you…don't consider me…yours."

Hiei shook his head, even though Kelly's eyes were closed. She had it all wrong. He leaned over and placed a gentle kiss on her lips. It was nothing like their other one, but it had so much more meaning behind it.

He released her lips and moved to her ear and whispered, "You _are_ my best friend, Kelly. So don't die, understand?"

She moved her head so that it rested against his. "I told you…I'm not goin' ta die…But I am…goin' ta…go ta sleep…I'll wake up…promise."

He nodded, knowing that she would feel the movement. "When you do, it'll all be over."

"That's what I'm…afraid of," she whimpered softly before drifting off to sleep. She wasn't even aware when Kurama came less than a minute later, or when the sword was removed, or when she was bandaged up, or even when she was transported to Spirit World.

Koenma had disobeyed his father altogether and created a portal to bring her and everyone else to the emergency room she had been brought to when everything had first started. Yusuke had called him on their way down to meet up with the other two.

The operation went smoothly, the doctors had informed everyone, but Kelly most likely wouldn't wake up for several days. Her body had relapsed into a healing state, almost like an induced coma. Her body was slowly restoring her energy and fixing the transfused blood to make it her own, half-demon blood. It was a complicated process and she needed time.

And so, here Hiei sat in Kelly's room back at Genkai's temple. An IV was hooked up to her hand and she was breathing slowly. In the hand not wrapped in gauze was her iPod. Hiei had placed it there when she had been transported to her room three days ago. Nobody had moved it, not even to hold her hand. She wouldn't want it moved. Like she had told them, she needed it to get better, to survive.

Hiei hadn't left her side in the five days she had been unconscious. He refused to. When he slept, he slept beside her on the bed, and when he ate, it was on her windowseat.

That was where he sat now, looking out at the sunrise. In his hand, he held his tear gem, Yukina's still around his neck.

The night before, Koenma had told him that his records were clean. His bodyguard duties were over. He was free to return to the Makai, to Mukuro, and to the border patrol.

Koenma was also happy to announce that he had managed to take over Spirit World. He didn't go into much detail only that his father had been charged with some high crimes, such as framing demons to make himself look good. Koenma merely had to find proof, and then it was easy to take the throne for himself. So Kelly was officially free, from Lon and from Spirit World. Hiei knew she would be okay.

He stood and walked over to her bed. Gently taking her gauze wrapped hand, he took his tear gem and placed it in her hand. He put her hand back down; making sure the tear gem was secure.

"So, you really don't plan on returning?" Kurama asked from the open doorway. "If you give that tear gem to her, Yukina will know you are her brother."

"I know," Hiei replied, looking at Kelly.

"But it won't matter because you won't come back." It was a statement, not a question.

"No, I won't."

"You're making a mistake, Hiei."

"No, I'm not."

"It wasn't your fault, Hiei! There was nothing you could have done!"

"I know."

"Then why?"

"Because, I have no reason to stay."

"No reason?!" Kurama was angry now. "You're reason is right here in front of you! Laying here in this bed!" He waved an arm at Kelly.

Hiei shook his head. "No. You're wrong. She is my reason for leaving."

"What?"

"We both need to see… we need to know…"

"What are you talking about?"

"We need to know if we can make it. We need time to heal…to understand. We can't do that together."

"You're not making any sense."

"She'll understand." Hiei walked over to the open window. "When she wakes up…the only thing I want you to tell her from me is…best friends are always best friends, no matter how far away they are. Tell her she taught me that and more and I thank her. For everything."

"You tell her yourself."

"But then that would destroy the whole point of the message, fox."

"Hiei, don't leave her."

"Never, Kurama. Never. Bye." And then he jumped out the window and flitted away. Kurama watched until he could no longer see Hiei's outline in the forest.

* * *

okay now before you all freak out, wait until the epilogue tomorrow. than i will explain everything! trust me this isnt the end... not yet at least. Kelly still needs to wake up and you all need to find out what happens to her and i need to tell you everything! remember its not over yet! i have a secret for you in the epilogue. but know that i was planning this from the begining, like i said before i knew the way i would end this from the very begining... but also know that this is a HieiOC fic... or at least the begining of one...


	43. Epilogue

alright, here it is. the epilogue... my author's note at the end should clear everything up... here we go...

**disclaimer: **i dont own Yu Yu Hakusho or its characters nor do i own the lyrics to Keeper by Yellowcard

* * *

Facing Your Inner Demons

Epilogue

When Kelly woke up, it was Kurama who sat beside her. She knew, as soon as she saw him that Hiei had left. And picking up the tear gem in her hand just proved it.

She didn't cry. Hiei wouldn't like tears shed on his behalf. When Kurama relayed Hiei's message, she merely gave a small sad, but sincere, smile.

She finally found out. A best friend was the most she was going to get out of him. He left after all.

But she was content with what she had.

At least, on the outside she was.

She knew, right then and there, that she no longer had a purpose in life. The whole world just came crashing down on her.

And she would slowly, but surely, have to put the pieces back together. Because that's what Hiei would want her to do. He wanted her to be happy, to live her life with what he taught her.

That was two weeks ago.

She now sat on her roof, just as she had so many times before. Only this time, she was alone.

She had started her first day of senior year only three days before. And already she hated it. Hiei wasn't there. It wasn't the same.

She looked down and grabbed Hiei's tear gem as it was blown in the wind.

"I wanna love, I wanna live  
I want you to love me  
I want you to leave me," she sang quietly as she gazed into the tear gem.

"I wanna stand where I can see  
I'm watching you love me  
I'm watching you leaving me now"

Lately, she had become consumed with gazing into the stone. It made her calm, made her forget. But at the same time, it made her remember everything.

"I wish I could be somebody else  
I wish I could see you in myself  
Wish there was something inside me  
To keep you beside me and  
Say what you really feel  
You know I need something that's real  
I wish there was something inside me  
To keep you beside me"

Tear gem still in hand, she turned to look at the stars, and she knew that wherever Hiei was he was looking at them too. Even if they were the Makai's stars, he was looking.

"I wanna know if I could be  
Someone to turn to  
That could never hurt you  
But I know what you think of me  
Yeah, you had a break-through  
And now I'm just bad news for you"

Tears flowed down her cheeks. She would cry just this once, but they weren't for Hiei. They were for the beauty of the stars. At least, that's what she told herself.

"Wish I could be somebody else  
I wish I could see you in myself  
Wish there was something inside me  
To keep you beside me and  
Say what you really feel  
You know I need something that's real  
I wish there was something inside me  
To keep you beside me

"I should've told you everything  
I never gave you anything  
I should've told you everything  
If I could give you anything  
You know I'd tell you everything

"I wish I could be somebody else  
I wish I could see you in myself  
Wish there was something inside me  
To keep you beside me and  
Say what you really feel  
You know I need something that's real  
I wish there was something inside me  
To keep you beside me

"I should've told you everything  
I should've told you everything  
I should've told you everything"

Kelly watched the stars continue to gleam in the night sky. Her new best friend, her love, wasn't there, but everyone has to walk on their own at some point. She would take everything he had taught her, and she would walk. She didn't know if she would be okay. But it didn't matter. Both of them needed to start over. They needed to act on what they had learned from each other, live a new life, even if it meant being without each other.

And now was the time to do it.

And one day, in the far future, when she saw him again, she would tell him everything.

* * *

okay, now before everyone freaks out ill tell you this... there is a sequel! well actaully, its more like a part two. i wanted him to leave in the end. it made more sense to me. but of course i wanted them to end up together... but w/e i'll explain it in a little bit i want to explain why he left

the third to last paragraph sums up why he left, and theres a lot about it in the sequel, but i want to kind of explain it in little detail here so that nobody freaks or anything. when Hiei explained to Kurama he was saying that they (he and Kelly) had both changed so much because of what they had taught each other. they needed to live on what they taught each other. to change their lives to the way they should be. Hiei would have to learn to love and Kelly would have to learn to trust, to open herself again. but they need to do it without each other. they need time to do this on their own, understand? if you dont, please wait until the sequel, it explains it so much better.

right now for info on the sequel itself... i dont know when i will post it. i havent done much but write that and update this story so i have no work done for school which i start in two weeks maybe? i dunno, but i really need to do that. i can tell you that i will have it up by the second week of september sometime that i promise you. i have twenty five chapters done of that story so far but i want to get more done.

the story is called Spreading Your Wings. look for that title. it takes place seven months after this one ends. I can tell you the first chapter takes place in her school and she talks to Kurama on her communicator and reveals some shocking news that will be the basis of the first couple of chapters (and no shes not pregnant and she doenst tell him she loves Hiei, Kurama knew that without anyone telling him). i can also tell you that Hiei will make an appearance early on, but not in Kelly's life. He will still be in the Makai. hm... what else can i tell you... oh yeah it will be rated T but it will borderline on M, but its not complete M material so no worries there... Kurama will have a bigger role, some KuramaOC (not Kelly)... a lot more of Kel's house and family... okay i think that's everything i can tell you... yup thats it!

i just want to thank everyone whos reviewed, added me or my story to their faves, and everyone that's read this. It means so much to me, and you've all kept me going and i never dreamed i would get the response to this story as i did (over 130 reviews people! wow!) i love you all so much and thanks a bunch! wow my a/n was longer than my epilogue lol


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